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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25518913">Pokemon: Rising Melody</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Storm_Starshine/pseuds/Storm_Starshine'>Storm_Starshine</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Gen, Original Character(s)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-04-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 06:48:11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>39,176</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25518913</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Storm_Starshine/pseuds/Storm_Starshine</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>The Alaria Region, well known for it technological advancements and musical talent, is holding it's Pokemon League soon. Follow Hibiki, a young starting trainer, as she and a mysterious Meloetta that she meet and rescued through the Alaria region as a familiar threat to the world reappears.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Prologue</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>
  <em>Hello readers, welcome to my first story on this site. As a note before beginning this chapter, this idea came to me after a long dry spell of creativity. With all my other stories that are on Fanfiction.net, I've kind of hit a creative roadblock, and honestly I do see that happening in the future again, due to school and various other factors, not to mention this outbreak. As such, I consider this a sort of coming back story from me, so please excuse the grammatical errors. (I am also still relatively new to writing). I may eventually go back, rewrite some of my other stories, and put them on here if I feel like it, but for now, I'm sticking with this. With that said, please enjoy the story.</em>
</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p>
<p>
  <strong>Prologue: Beginnings</strong>
</p>
<p><em>Somewhere on the outskirts of the Alaria region, night time</em>…</p>
<p>"Come on Krystal, it went this way!" a voice yelled at his comrade. The two operatives, wearing full body suits with helmets, ran through a field, chasing after a shiny Meloetta. The Meloetta was running away from the two individuals who were occasionally throwing Pokeballs at it.</p>
<p>"It's useless to run!" Krystal yelled. The two then grabbed Pokeballs from their belts and threw them, releasing the pokemon in them. From them appeared a Honchkrow and a Luxio, who both immediately started to run after the Meloetta. Upon seeing this, Meloetta sped up before she began to concentrate on something. Before she could use what she was preparing, the Honchcrow dived at it and hit it, knocking it to the ground.</p>
<p>"Nice Job Honchkrow!" the first voice said as he got out another Pokeball. Before he could throw it, Meloetta used Grass Knot which made the trainer and caused the one wielding the Pokeball to trip. It then used Thunderbolt which hit the Honchkrow, knocking it out of the sky.</p>
<p>"Wind!" Krystal exclaimed as she ran up to her partner. Krystal's Luxio then dashed forward as it's fangs gleamed red. Meloetta, thinking quickly, used Protect to generate a barrier around itself just as the Luxio used Fire Fang. It then used Psychic and launched the Luxio towards Krystal, knocking them both down. Just as it started to run again, a Sawsbuck immediately pinned it to the ground.</p>
<p>"I see the target gave you two a bit of trouble." a gruff voice said as he helped Wind up.</p>
<p>"Apologies Wolf, this one is a lot of trouble." Wind said as Krystal recalled Luxio and stood up. Wolf simply sighed as he looked at the pinned Meloetta and walked towards it.</p>
<p>"You've been a little weasley one haven't you? I must admit, I'm impressed you've managed to evade us for so long." Wolf told Meloetta as he touched her hair. Meloetta glared at him, which caused Sawsbuck to put a little more force on her, getting a little smile out of Wolf. "Let her go, I want to chase this thing a little more." Wolf told Sawsbuck. His Sawsbuck compiled and lifted it's foot off the Meloetta, much to the shock of his compatriots and the Meloetta.</p>
<p>"Wolf, if I may be so kind to ask, and no offense to you, WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU THINKING!?" Krystal yelled at her superior officer. Meloetta, seeing an opportunity, proceeded to run away.</p>
<p>"Our commander said it would be fine if we didn't catch it at the moment, after all, we are going to be in the region for a while anyway." Wolf said as Meloetta ran away. He then proceeded to take out a small device before it projected a map with a small blip on it. "Besides, I tagged it, so we'll know where it is for the moment." Wolf said devilishly. Krystal glared at Wolf for a moment before Wind put a hand on his shoulder.</p>
<p>"We were all there for that and we knew that, but what is it with you and the thrill of the hunt? We've been at this for 4 hours and the only reason we haven't stopped now is because of you." Wind told Wolf.</p>
<p>"Oh trust me, I have a feeling I'm going to regret it." Wolf said as he ran forward.</p>
<p>"... I'm going to get after him if he regrets it." Krystal said as she walked after Wolf. Wind simply sighed and followed his two partners after the Meloetta.</p>
<hr/>
<p>
  <em>3 hours later…</em>
</p>
<p>"Are we close?" Wind asked in an absolutely exhausted voice.</p>
<p>"Yes, the radar shows that it's up ahead… boy am I regretting my earlier decision." Wolf said, a bit of exhaustion in his voice.</p>
<p>"I'm giving you this one so long as we catch it." Krystal said, panting from the long hunt they had been on. As the three approached the Meloetta, who looked to be sleeping.</p>
<p>"Ok, would you like to do the honours?" Wind asked Wolf kindly. Wolf simply nodded and gave a toothy brin and was about to throw the pokeball when Krystal stopped him. As he gave her a stern look, Krystal slowly walked up to the Meloetta and gave it a closer look. After about a minute, Wind slowly backed away as Krystal slowly started to choke the Meloetta.</p>
<p>"Is everyth-" was all Wolf could get out before being hit in the face with a doll of a Meloetta. Wolf was then tackled to the ground by Krystal who proceeded to put her hands around his throat.</p>
<p>"YOU SAID IT WOULD BE OK WOLF! AND LOOK WHERE WE ARE! 7 FUCKING HOURS FOR NOTHING!" Krystal said at the top of her lungs, anger completely taken over her. Wind simply sighed at this interaction before walking over and grabbing the doll.</p>
<p>"Ok, you two have fun. I'll see if it's still in the area." Wind said innocently, getting out a pokeball and calling out his Stoutland.</p>
<p>"Wait… Wind, help me." Wolf said as he tried to keep Krystal from strangling him.</p>
<p>"Have fun you two." Wind said in a cheery voice as Stoutland sniffed the doll and they walked away. Unknown to all of them, Meloetta was hiding behind a nearby tree, holding her mouth so not to make any noise. She had noticed the tracker in her hair a while ago and had used Substitute to make a replacement for herself. The move had left her exhausted however, so she placed the tracker on the Substitute and prayed to Arceus her plan would work as she rested. Thankfully it did, but she didn't know how long the distraction would last. Meloetta, winced as she moved, the exhaustion getting to her even though she had rested for a bit.</p>
<p>"<em>Got to rest… been running for so long…</em>" Meloetta thought to herself. As she looked around for a good place to hide, she noticed a small cave in a nearby hill. Without even thinking, she slowly made her way to the cave, making sure to cover her tracks. Once inside, she looked around and saw that this looked like a Trainer had set up camp here. "<em>...Beggars can't be choosers… might as well hide.</em>" Meloetta thought with a sour tone. Looking around, she used Telekinesis to grab some soft materials and made a makeshift bed for herself before hiding it behind some vases and carefully getting in it. As she laid down and stared at the ceiling, the last 7 hours of running finally started to settle in before she fell asleep, unknowing of the events about to unfold.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>Chapter 1: Discovery of a Melody</strong>
</p>
<p>
  <em>The Alaria region, one of the most technologically advanced regions in the world. It has several advancements in Pokeball and everyday tech that other regions don't have, like hover shoes, teleporters, and Augmented Reality interactions. The region is also home to one of the larger branches of the International Pokemon Police, so big that they have a pseudo-headquarters located here. Thanks to technological advances and the fact that there are professional detectives and cops all around, Alaria is also regarded as one of the safer regions, though there are still things that go wrong whether it be with technology or crime.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Our story begins in Melodic Town, a town on the edge of Alaria that is more rural than the rest of the region. Here,we have a girl, her meeting with a songstress, and the start of a journey.</em>
</p>
<hr/>
<p>"Hibiki, it's time to get up." a voice called out into her bedroom. Hibiki slowly opened her eyes and turned her head to face her twin sister from her bed. "It's our big day today." her sis said playfully before closing the door. Hibiki laid in beed for a minute before getting a jolt of energy as she remembered what was going to happen.</p>
<p>"We get our Pokemon today!" Hibiki thought ecstatically as she got out of bed and rushed to get ready. After a few minutes of hyperness, Hibiki stood in front of a mirror and made sure she had everything. Hibiki was an 17 year old light tanned skinned female with purple eyes and silver hair tied up with a treble clef hairpin in a ponytail wearing a blue shirt with a gray disk on it, a small silver cape she had sewn on, a red skirt with a musical scale and notes on it, a blank musical scale sash, black leggings with a purple stripe near her thighs, and multi-colored shoes.</p>
<p>After making sure she was fully dressed, she grabbed her backpack and headed out the door to head downstairs. When she got downstairs, she saw that, her mother and sister were already eating breakfast with a Chimecho eating a bowl of food that it had.. "Sorry about that, I completely forgot about today." Hibiki said as she sat down.</p>
<p>"Really? I couldn't tell from how excited you were yesterday." her sister said in a playful tone. Hibiki's twin sister looked exactly like her with the same hair and eye color and similar clothing style, difference being that her sister has a gold cape and white stockings.</p>
<p>"... I mean, you know how I get at night Echo." Hibiki told her sister with a smile as she started to eat her breakfast.</p>
<p>"I'm so happy for you two, getting your pokemon today and becoming trainers." their mother told them. Hibiki and Echo looked at their mother with smiles as their mother's Chimecho happily swayed side to side.</p>
<p>"Speaking of, what time do we have to go get our pokemon?" Echo asked as she stood up to put her and her mother's plates in the dishwasher.</p>
<p>"In about two hours and a half hours, Professor Cherry is out at the moment. She's taking care of some business at the moment, but she'll be here soon." their mother said.</p>
<p>"Ah, well what do we do until then?" Hibiki asked as she swallowed some of her food.</p>
<p>"Stay here, but knowing you, you're going to be going to your Den to get ready." her mother said with a small sigh.</p>
<p>"Why can you two read me like books?" Hibiki said in a sad tone. In response, Echo walked up behind her and hugged her sister.</p>
<p>"Because we love you and know you in and out." Echo said in a compassionate voice. Hibiki simply smiled as she finished her breakfast and talked with her family for a bit.</p>
<hr/>
<p>About an hour had passed before, Hibiki had left her house to head to her Den that she had built. As she left, she took a deep breath and sight out of excitement. "<em>Calm down Hibiki, it's just a quick visit to the Den and back here. Nothing is going to happen… why do I even bother?</em>" Hibiki thought to herself, mentally slapping herself. Walking through the surrounding woods, she took the steps to make sure that she was calm. Suddenly, she heard a rustling in the grass nearby and she quickly moved to make sure she would be safe.</p>
<p>"Oh, didn't realize there was anyone else out here." a voice said, earning a yelp from Hibiki. As she heard the voice, she turned around and saw a boy coming out of the foliage followed by a Stoutland. "Apologies for the scare." Wind said as he rubbed the back of his head.</p>
<p>"It's fine, I didn't expect to run into anyone, this area is usually not home to many Pokemon." Hibiki said in an embarrassed tone.</p>
<p>"Eh, I'm kind of just a wanderer with me and my friends… who are in a heated argument right now. Just decided I would take a walk with my Stoutland." Wind said.</p>
<p>"That's good… hope your friends are alright." Hibiki said awkwardly as she looked for a way out.</p>
<p>"They'll be fine, this happens often enough. Name's Wind by the way, what's yours?" Wind said with a cheerful tone.</p>
<p>"... Hibiki." Hibiki introduced shyly. Upon seeing the shyness of Hibiki, Wind simply sighed and gave an understanding smile.</p>
<p>"Getting your first pokemon today are you?" Wind guessed. Hibiki simply hid her face and nodded before Wind gave a small laugh. "Shy one aren't you? I completely understand why though, It's the start of a journey." Wind said, getting a little nostalgic himself.</p>
<p>"...I should get going." Hibiku said as she proceeded to walk away. Wind simply waved goodbye, sighing as she disappeared from view.</p>
<p>"This could be a problem." Wind said to himself as he proceeded in the opposite direction Hibi went. Meanwhile, Hibiki continued toward her Den, keeping an eye behind her for Wind.</p>
<p>"<em>I don't trust that guy at all… then again I say that with everyone I meet for the first time.</em>" Hibiki thought as she reached her Den, which was a cave on the side of a hill. When she did, a smile appeared on her face as she sighed happily. "Don't think about it for now, just be excited." Hibiki told herself before entering the Den. As she entered into her Den, she turned on an electrical system that had installed and lit up the Den. Her den was relatively small with relatively few items, just a bed for times she stays here, few shelves she puts things on, a PC because of course, and a few pots and jars scattered around.</p>
<p>"OK, time to get some things from here." Hibiki said as she walked towards the bed. When she got there, she grabbed a small box from under it. Opening it, she got out a few supplies she had made her mother bought as a birthday present, some Pokeballs, healing items, and a small red pendant that she had received as a child. As she put the items away in her bag along with the box, she thought she heard a soft snoring. Having studied a bit about Pokemon and using some logic, she concluded that the snoring was not human as far as she could tell. "<em>In that case, what Pokemon is sleeping in here?</em>" Hibiki thought, listening for the source of the snoring. As she determined the source of the snoring, she quietly approached the area the snoring originated from.</p>
<p>After looking behind some pots, she found a Pokemon sleeping in what looked like a makeshift bed facing away from her. "<em>Whatever Pokemon this is, it's not a normal one for sure.</em>" Hibiki thought, noting the cyan-hair. Almost as if on cue, the Pokemon turned around, now awake and aware that someone was there, and stared at Hibiki. Hibiki's eyes immediately went wide as she realized what the Pokemon in front of her attempted to use Telekinesis, but couldn't due to the still present injuries it had. "Are you ok?" Hibiki asked out of concern, reaching out a hand to it. In response, the Meloetta stood up carefully and walked towards Hibiki with a grimace on its face before it touched her hand.</p>
<p>"Do I look ok to you?" Meloetta telepathically told Hibiki. Hibiki yelped a bit when she heard Meloetta's voice in her head and backed up a little bit. "Figured that would happen, humans are weird creatures." Meloetta said, before sitting on the edge of the shelf she was on.</p>
<p>"What are you doing?" Hibiki asked.</p>
<p>"You're here to capture me aren't you? ...Just get it over with, I'm done running." Meloetta said, accepting her presumed fate.</p>
<p>"Capture you?" Hibiki inquired.</p>
<p>"Don't play dumb with me. You're one of the armored people that was chasing me last night. Still surprised that you stopped fighting with that one you called Wolf." Meloetta explained in a very bitter tone. When she heard that description, Hibiki paused for a moment and thought about Wind. After a few seconds, Hibiki looked at the Meloetta again and sighed before speaking.</p>
<p>"Did one of the people chasing after you have a Stoutland?" Hibiki questioned.</p>
<p>"... Why are you asking me that?" Meloetta asked, now more annoyed. For Hibiki, that was all the response she needed as she proceeded to get out a duffle bag.</p>
<p>"Look, as much as I know you don't trust me at all, I've seen the guy you're talking about. If you want to get away, get in this bag and I'll take you someplace safe." Hibiki told Meloetta in a calm tone.</p>
<p>"And why should I listen to you?" Meloetta asked.</p>
<p>"Because that man is going to find you, no matter what. It doesn't matter to me if you trust me or not, all I ask is this; do you want to be free or be in servitude to those people?" Hibiki responded simply. Meloetta paused for a moment as she considered that question before sighing and hovering into the bag. "Thank you, I promise you won't regret it." Hibiki said with a smile as she helped make the Meloetta comfortable.</p>
<p>"I better not or else. Speaking of, how are you going to keep me hidden scent wise?" Meloetta remarked. In response, Hibiki gave Meloetta a small mask with a tube in it.</p>
<p>"I have a portable oxygen tank for Pokemon that I made myself just in case for times like this… I am a bored girl with a lot of time on her hands." Hibiki explained while she got out a Repel Spray. Meloetta just glared at Hibiki in both confusion and intrigue as she put the mask on and closed the bag. <em>"This is going to be an interesting journey if I can see where this is going.</em>" Hibiki thought to herself before she applied the Repel to herself and the bag. After doing that, she simply calmed herself down before heading out of her Den, turning off the lights as she left. As she left the cave, she looked around and listened to make sure Wind was not nearby. Almost as if on cue, she heard some voices coming from up ahead which prompted her to hide in some bushes.</p>
<p>"And you're sure that command wants us to return?" a voice asked their compatriot.</p>
<p>"Yeah, I'm just as confused as you Wolf. That being said, we will still be in the area for a while and more agents will be deployed as necessary." the more femenine voice said.</p>
<p>"Krystal, you make a good point, but it still seems weird. That… and you kind of justly did get very angry at me." Wolf told her, rubbing his neck.</p>
<p>"I said I was sorry." Krystal said, pouting a little.</p>
<p>"It's behind us, let's go find Wind and get out of here. I want to sleep." Wolf said as he turned in a direction and walked that way. As the two walked by, Hibiki noted that they were in full unmarked armor. After a few seconds passed and making sure they were out of sight, Hibiki left her hiding spot and continued back to town.</p>
<p>"Well, looks like I was wrong about you… I'm sorry." Meloetta told Hibiki.</p>
<p>"It's fine." Hibiki said with a sad smile on her face as she headed back to town.</p>
<hr/>
<p>After a bit of walking, Hibiki approached Melodia town along her normal route through the forest and looked at her house for a moment. 'Hey Meloetta, between my family and the local Professor, which would you rather be dropped off at?" Hibiki told the Pokemon.</p>
<p>"...The Professor, no offense to your family of course." Meloetta said calmly. Hibiki simply nodded as she walked to the lab entrance, noting that the lights were now on. When she got to the front door, they slid open and walked inside. The Melodia Pokemon lab was, out of everything in the town, the one big technological center of the town. In it were state of the art computers, healing machines, and hologram technology.</p>
<p>Standing in front of a desk were two people, Professor Cherry and a woman in a suit that Hibiki had never seen before. Professor Cherry was a mid-30 year old woman with white skin, pink eyes and red hair in pigtails wearing a professor coat, a red shirt with pink cherry blossoms, magenta pants, and pink shoes. The Woman had white skin, shiny lilac-colored hair tied into a ponytail with a black ribbon, and purple eyes and was wearing a black suit with a black tie with a white shirt underneath, tight black skinny fit pants, matching black shoes, and black gloves with gray bumps on them. As Hibiki got closer, the Professor excused herself and walked up to Hibiki. "Oh Hibiki, apologies I didn't hear you enter. What did you need?" Cherry questioned.</p>
<p>"Um, it's something about an injured Pokemon I found. May I ask who this is?" Hibiki asked, a hint of nervousness in her voice.</p>
<p>"Oh, I was going to introduce you to her when you got your pokemon. Hibiki, I would like you to meet Anabel, a member of the International Pokemon Police." Cherry introduced. After that introduction, Anabel simply smiled as she walked up to Hibiki.</p>
<p>"A pleasure to meet you." Anabel said, stretching out her hand. Hibiki responded to the hand shake, although she was very nervous standing in front of an I.P.P. agent.</p>
<p>"Now what did you want to ask? I'm kind of busy setting everything up." Cherry asked, a hint of impatience in her voice.</p>
<p>"Well… just about an encounter I saw earlier with some armored people." Hibiki said shyly. Cherry immediately looked over to Anabel, who gave a quick nod to her.</p>
<p>"What happened in that encounter?" Cherry asked.</p>
<p>"It was just a quick conversation between two people, Wolf and Krystal they called themselves, discussing that a search was being called off before they left to look for their last member." Hibiki explained. Anabel took note of that as Hibiki brought her duffle bag out and fully opened it. "There's more, while I was getting some things from my den, I found what they were looking for." Hibiki said. The Meloetta proceeded to float out of the bag,earning a shocked look from the two adults.</p>
<p>"A Shiny Meloetta?!" Anabel exclaimed.</p>
<p>"Yeah, it was reluctant to come, and honestly I don't blame it at all, but I did manage to push her a little bit to come here for treatment." Hibiki said as the Meloetta drifted forward.</p>
<p>"I see no reason I shouldn't treat her. Thank you for letting us know of the events Hibiki." Cherry said as she walked forward and held out her hand. Hibiki simply bowed out of respect before turning to leave.</p>
<p>"It's no problem, just doing what I can to help. I'll see you later professor." Hibiki said as she left the lab. Professor Cherry waved goodbye before leading Meloetta into another room with Anabel following and closing the door behind them.</p>
<p>"So, what did you think about here?" Cherry asked Anabel.</p>
<p>"She's certainly got guts, I can say that much. Not to mention just an unhealthy amount of kindness." Anabel responded.</p>
<p>"Yep, sounds about right for Hibiki, doing things to help others even if it means getting into trouble herself." Cherry asked as she helped the Meloetta onto a table.</p>
<p>"Interesting girl she is…" Anabel said before she started to think about something.</p>
<p>"You're thinking about the individuals she told us about right?" Cherry inquired.</p>
<p>"Yep, even if they're not from the organization I'm after, it's still worrying that they were chasing after this Meloetta." Anabel responded.</p>
<p>"Well for right now, I would recommend you think of what you're going to tell the new Trainers. In the meantime, I have work to do." Cherry told Anabel as she proceeded with the check up on the Meloetta. Anabel simply nodded as she walked to a quiet corner and began to think about what she was going to say in about an hour.</p>
<p>"<em>Maybe, just maybe, I can get that girl to help on something…</em>" Anabel thought before starting to practice a speech she prepared.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>So one quick thing to amend before the start, I had forgotten to give Hibiki's Mother a name and Description when I first published the last chapter. My bad, but I might as well put it here before I go back to edit it later. Aria a a tall woman in her mid 40s with blue hair, dark blue eyes, and a side ponytail on the left side of her head that goes to her elbow. She normally wears a sky blue blues and jeans, a purple scarf, and purple shoes.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <b>Chapter 2: Partners Formed</b>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>An hour had passed since Hibiki had left Meloetta With Professor Cherry and Anabel. SInce then, she had returned home and mainly stayed in her room playing various instruments she owned to calm her nerves a bit. “I hope everything goes well with Meloetta. Today is becoming a lot more exciting than I anticipated.” Hibiki thought as she played her pan-flute. As she played a familiar song to her, one that she usually plates when she needs to calm down, her mind wandered a bit.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“I wonder why they were chasing after Meloetta to begin with. According to the Unovan legends I’ve read, Meloetta’s song does have enough power to calm other Pokemon. I get why using that power for evil is bad, but why go after her?” Hibiki began to thought as she autopilot the song she was playing. After finishing the song, there was a knock at the door before Echo came into the room.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>“Hey, are you ready?” Echo asked her sister.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah, just calming my nerves. You know me and my anxiety.” Hibiki responded, pushing her theories to the back of her mind, as she put her pan flute in her bag.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Yep… will you calm down? It’s just getting our starting Pokemon.” Echo said in a caring tone.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“I know, but you know me, worrying about everything.” Hibiki said meekly. Echo simply smiled before giving Hibiki’s cheek a soft pinch.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Of course, and I wouldn’t have you any other way sis.” Echo said happily.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Thanks.” Hibiki responded in a happier tone.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“If it makes you feel better, I am probably just as nervous as you are and just not showing it.” Echo said happily. Hibiki simply laughed at that comment as the two left her room before heading downstairs. Once there, their mother approached the two of them with two separate packages.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m so proud of you two and a little nostalgic for when I was your age.” Aria said, a smile on her face.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“I can tell that you are. You prepared some farewell gifts for us?” Echo responded.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Of course I did, you know how I am.” Aria said before she gave both of her daughters a package. Aria explained the contests of both packages, which were both fairly similar, they each had a few items that their mother picked out for them, some special Pokeballs, and a pair of goggles. “Now, I did put one unique thing in each of your packages. For Echo, since I know you love your tech and everything, I gave you a pair of AR gloves. For you Hibiki, I gave you my mother’s personal songbook, because I know how much you loved her.” Aria finished. While Echo was completely ecstatic at that news, Hibiki felt a little nostalgic at the thought of having her grandmother’s songbook.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“... Thank you Mom, I really appreciate it.” Hibiki said, tearing up a little as she remembered her grandmother.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“I know you both do, and I feel like I don’t need to say this, but come show me your Pokemon when you get them.” Aria said with a somewhat sad smile.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“We will mom, trust me I wouldn’t forget that for anything.” Echo said. Hibiki nodded before they both hugged Aria and left for the Pokemon Lab.</span>
</p>
<hr/>
<p>
  <span>Once they arrived at the Pokemon Lab, they saw a few other kids from town there as well waiting in the lobby. “Looks like we weren’t late at least.” Echo said as they waited for the Professor. After a few more minutes of waiting for a few more kids and chatting, Professor Cherry arrived with a small cart of Pokeballs. Everyone else went quiet as the professor cleared her throat before beginning her speech.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Apologies for the wait all, I had to get a few things ready. Now then, welcome one and all to the start of your journey in the Alaria Region. As you all know, this region is home to a wide variety of pokemon from all across the globe, from Kanto to Galar. Additionally, I am obligated to tell you that the Pokemon League is available for all to enter this year. As you all know, you may do the Gyms in any order you wish, except for the gym in Destiny Town, which need the other 7 Badges in order to gain access to. Now, I feel like I don’t need to say this, but you don’t need to take on the League at all, go out in the world and do what you want to do.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>As the professor’s speech finished, a screen came up from the card and displayed several pokemon on it. “These are the Pokemon that are in these Pokeballs and that will be your starters, please come up as your name is called to get.” Professor Cherry said as she got out a check list. As the names were called up and the Pokemon were taken, the room slowly became quieter until it was just Echo and Hibiki left with three Pokemon to choose from. “Hibiki, you’re up.” Cherry called.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Hey, leave a good one for me.” Echo said with a smile. Hibiki simply nodded with a small laugh before she walked up to the three remaining Pokeballs. On the screen over their respective Pokeballs were a male </span>
  <span>Venipede, a male Ralts, and a female Litwick.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Huh, interesting choices.” Hibiki said as she looked at the selection. After some thought, she eventually grabbed the Pokeball that had the Venipede in it.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“You’re going with Venipede?” Cherry asked. Hibiki simply nodded before turning around to wait for her sister. “Echo, come on up.” Cherry called. Echo simply walked up, looked between the two of them and picked the Ralts. Echo simply nodded before heading back as Cherry cleared her throat. “That looks to be everyone. I hope you all enjoy your new life as a Pokemon Trainer. Now before you all leave, we do have a special guest with something to say.” Cherry said as she motioned for the person to come out. On cue, Anabel came from an adjacent room and stood beside the professor.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Thank you Professor Cherry. Allow me to introduce myself, my name is Anabel, agent of the International Pokemon Police.” Anabel introduced. Almost immediately after that introduction, the room was abuzz with chatter.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“What’s the IPP doing here?” Echo asked her sister.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“I don’t know.” Hibiki responded, now asking that question herself. As the Chatter died down, Anabel spoke up again.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Now, to put some things to rest, I am technically not here on any official business. I was merely in the area and happened to run into Professor Cherry. Seeing an opportunity to warn you all about something, I requested to come along and inform you about this topic. Recently, an unknown organization has been spotted in Alaria and we don’t know what their goal is. There aren’t many reports about them, but from what we’ve been able to gather, they seem to be attempting to recruit people from Alaria for an unknown reason. For your safety, please report any suspicious activity that you feel is suspicious.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>As Anabel finished, all the trainers there looked at each other for a moment. “I should stress that we are looking into this and that it should be obvious to avoid them. Either way, just be careful out there.” Anabel told the trainers. Everyone simply nodded as Anabel left the room and Cherry spoke up.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Well, that’s all that I had planned. If any of you want to test out your Pokemon in a battle, we have an arena next door.” Cherry said before she left the room. Everyone that was there to pick up a Pokemon then filed out of the building, Echo and Hibiki last.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“I can certainly say that I didn’t expect an IPP Agent to come here.” Echo told Hibiki, still processing everything.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah… same.” Hibiki said, attempting to hide a small smile. Echo noticed the small smile and simply sighed before giving Hibiki a slap on the back, causing her to tumble forward a bit out from the force.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“What did you do?” Echo questioned in a somewhat serious tone.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Look… let’s just say something happened at my Den and I might have known about Anabel already. And before you ask, no nothing bad happened, more than I found something unexpected there.” Hibiki admitted. Echo then pinched her nose before looking at their house.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Let’s just go show Mom our Pokemon… and you can explain what happened at your Den.” Echo said in a slightly annoyed tone. Hibiki simply nodded in agreement as they returned home.</span>
</p>
<hr/>
<p>
  <span>After they got home and Echo told their mom what happened, as well as introducing their pokemon, Hibiki explained what had happened with Meloetta in the living room. “So, you’re telling me that you found an injured Meloetta in your Den, who was running away from some shady people that you happened to see, and you brought it back to the Professor?” Echo crecounted as she rubbed her head while watching Ralts slowly walk around the living room.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Yep, sorry for not telling you sooner.” Hibiki responded as she patted her Venipede, which she had named Venemy.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“I can understand why though, that seems like a ridiculous story.” Aria said in a kind voice.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“No offense, but I don’t entirely believe you sis.” Echo said out of disbelief.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“That’s fair, I still can’t believe it happened myself.” Hibiki admitted. The room then fell into an awkward silence before there was a knock at the door. Hibiki, wanting to break the silence, got up and  went to answer it. As she opened the door, she was surprised to see Anabel standing outside.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Miss Anabel, what are you doing here?” Hibiki asked, getting the attention of Echo and Aria.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Hello there Hibiki, may I come in?” Anabel asked in a kind voice. Hibiki silently allowed Anabel into the house and closed the door behind her.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“If you don’t mind me asking, what are you doing here?” Hibiki questioned.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“I came to ask you and your family something important.” Anabel said as she took a seat in an empty chair. Hibiki simply returned to her seat, and Venemy crawled on her lap. “So, I feel like I should ask this to start, did you tell them about the Meloetta?” Anabel questioned. Hibiki quickly looked at her family before she meekly nodded yes in response. “Then there shouldn’t be much to explain. Simply put, I want to ask for your help with something Hibiki.” Anabel said.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>“What did you need my help with?” Hibiki asked as there was another knock at the door. Aria got up to answer it this time and looked to see who it was before quickly opening the door.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Professor Cherry!? Please come in.” Aria said. Echo then watched as both Professor Cherry and the Meloetta that Hibiki had told her about entered the room as Aria returned to her seat</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Huh… looks like I was wrong.” Echo said, a bit in disbelief.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Well, I think you can probably guess what I want to ask you.” Anabel said with a small smile.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Uh, I think I get the general idea, but please explain in more detail.” Hibiki asked, already seeing where this was going.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>“One thing before we start, what is shared here does not leave this room. Understand?” Anabel said in a very serious tone. Everyone in the room nodded before Anabel softened up a bit. “Now then, on to business. What I’m requesting of you is for you to take this Meloetta with you on your journey to keep it safe.” Anabel explained.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Ok, but why me though? I’m just a starting trainer.” Hibiki questioned.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“To be honest, I don’t entirely know myself. I suppose it’s because you were the one to find her.” Anabel said. Hibiki simply nodded and looked over at her mom for her thoughts before Meloetta hovered over to Aria, who had been staring at her this whole time.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m sorry for staring, but I feel like I’ve seen you somewhere.” Aria told Meloetta. Meloetta tilted her head slightly before she hovered over to Echo and looked over her.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“From what I’ve been able to tell, she has some memory loss. Nothing major from what I’m able to tell aside from some missing memories of the past. What gets me though is the cause of the memory loss because it seems to be self inflicted.” Cherry told the group.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“How are you able to tell if it’s self inflicted?” Echo asked as Meloetta examined her.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Psychic Pokemon have a distinct mental wave pattern that they use. After examining her mental patterns, I was able to at least guess that she inflicted this on herself in the past and doesn't remember how to undo it.” Cherry explained as Meloetta simply looked down in sadness. Echo simply patted Meloetta, who in response shied away from her. “Another thing probably related to those memories, she seems to be really shy, and sometimes aggressive, when it comes to humans.” Cherry said.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“I see, so you want me to take care of this Meloetta for how long exactly?” Hibiki questioned.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“I… don’t exactly know. Ideally, I would just ask you to take it to the IPP Headquarters and leave it from there, but I have this nagging feeling that there’s something bigger going on here.” Anabel said  before she closed her eyes. As she did that, Meloetta looked around the room before hovering over to Hibiki. The two simply stared at each other until Aria spoke up.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>“Hibiki, I think you should do it.” Aria told her daughter.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Mom, why are you encouraging her.” Echo questioned.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“You know she’s going to insist and do it.” Aria pointed out. Echo simply sighed as she realized who they were talking about.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“I mean, they said it better than I could have. I’m willing to help out, but do you mind if I talk with Meloetta a bit?” Hibiki said. Anabel simply nodded with a smile before Meloetta floated onto the seat beside her and looked at Venemy, who gave a happy cry. “Looks like someone already like you.” Hibiki said kindly as she patted Venemy.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Yep, looks like it.</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Meloetta said mentally, a bit weirded out at the quick reception.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“You sure you want to do this? I’m just making sure because of your… current experiences with humans.” Hibiki asked.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>It’s fine, I’m just doing this to stay safe anyway. I do want to set some ground rules though.</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Meloetta said a bit begrudgingly. Hibiki simply sighed before turning to Meloetta, motioning for her to proceed. “</span>
  <em>
    <span>Nothing big, just one rule from each of us. I want to be out of my Pokeball as much as possible.</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Meloetta told Hibiki.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m fine with that, but you stay in there while in cities.” Hibiki told her.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Fair.</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Meloetta said, not arguing the point much.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“As for my rule, you try to interact with me and others as much as possible. Not saying that you have to, but at least give it a shot.” Hibiki said.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>That’s… at least reasonable.</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Meloetta responded.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Good, one last thing though…” Hibiki began to say, before getting a little sheepish. Meloetta then turned to Hibiki with a curious look. “I’m naming you Melody because I don’t feel you right just calling you Meloetta all the time.” Hibiki said, a hint of blush appearing on her face. Meloetta simply looked at them for a moment before giving a small smile.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Man humans are weird… that’s fine with me.</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Melody said. Hibiki simply nodded before extending her hand out and Melody shook it.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Well, I can see you two worked that out fairly quick.” Anabel said as she got out a Pokeball and tossed it to Hibiki. Hibiki caught the Pokeball and saw that it had note marks on. “That is a special Pokeball I made called a Music Ball. I made especially for this Meloetta, but it looks like you’ll need it more than me.”  Anabel said with a small smile.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>“Question, and sorry if this is a bit obvious, but wouldn’t a normal Pokeball be better to hide it?” Echo questioned.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Normally, it would be, but the Music Ball is made to be special. While Meloetta is in Music Ball, her signal is basically hidden to tracking devices. Also, Meloetta can sing to change the design of the Music Ball for about a day before it turns back to it’s default look.” Anabel explained. To test that, Melody sang a song and saw as the Music Ball turned to a Pokeball. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Ok, that’s a smart move.” Echo said, a bit envious that her sister got a bit of nice tech.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“So, are you ready for this?” Hibiki asked Melody, holding out the Music Ball. Melody hesitated for a moment before she touched the button and went in the Pokeball. The ball then shook for a moment before a click was heard, confirming the capture. Hibiki, with a smile, then threw the Music Ball and called out Melody, who immediately looked at Hibiki. “Welcome to the team Melody.” Hibiki said as Venemy squeed happily.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>... A pleasure.</span>
  </em>
  <span>”  Melody said.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Well then, with that all settled, I must be going. I have some things to take care of elsewhere.” Anabel said as she stood up and walked up to the door.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Thank you for this opportunity.” Hibiki thanked Anabel.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“No problem, I’ll let the gyms and HQ know about this. I would recommend you stop by the HQ in Alaria City to meet my boss.” Anabel said before leaving.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Well, I should probably head out as well. I’ll keep in touch as I find out how to undo Melody’s memory loss.” Cherry said before she left as well. This left the family alone in the house with their Pokemon and their own thoughts.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“That was a thing I didn’t expect.” Echo said as she walked over to Ralts and patted it.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Same. Speaking of this thought, have you met a Meloetta in the past Mom?” Hibiki asked.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“I feel like I have, but I can’t remember for sure.” Aria told her daughter. Hibiki let that thought mull over in her head for a moment before Echo touched her shoulder.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Come on Sis, we gotta get going if we want to make it to Harmony Town before night.” Echo said as she recalled Ralts. Hibiki simply nodded as she recalled Venemy and both she and Melody proceeded to get ready to leave.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Don’t forget to keep in touch.” Aria called happily, a little sad to see her daughters leave.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“We will mom, love you.” the two said in unison before leaving. After they left, Aria sighed and got up to walk and think.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>I swear I’ve seen Melody somewhere before, but I just can’t remember for the life of me.</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Aria thought as she walked up to a framed photo. She picked it up and looked at the picture that she and her mother had taken when Hibiki and Echo were born. “Mother… I wish you were still here to see this.” Aria said with a somber smile as before watching her kids run to Route 1.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>Chapter 3: The Journey Begins</strong>
</p>
<p>Echo, Hibiki, and Melody ran through town before arriving at Route 1. "Took a bit longer than I thought, but we're on our journey." Echo told Hibiki.</p>
<p>"Yeah, I'm just excited. Speaking of, what Pokemon are you thinking about getting for your team?" Hibiki asked curiously as they walked through the grass.</p>
<p>"I don't know yet, but I'll see what comes to me. After all, a Pokemon Journey is supposed to be fun." Echo told her sister. Hibiki simply smiled as Melody simply floated behind them.</p>
<p>"<em>What have I signed myself up for?</em>" Melody mentally sighed. Echo then ran ahead a bit before turning to face her sister.</p>
<p>"Before we get to Harmony Town, why don't we have a battle?" Echo asked.</p>
<p>"I'm fine with that, but it seems a bit unfair that I have two Pokemon, one of them being a Meloetta." Hibiki told her sister.</p>
<p>"Why not just use only Venemy?" Echo questioned. Hibiki was about to say something before Melody floated in front of her.</p>
<p>"I'm fine with sitting out for this one, just so we can get a move on." Melody said before she floated off to the side. Hibiki simply sighed before giving a nod as she and Echo looked at each other.</p>
<p>"Looks like she decided that for me." Hibiki said with a shrug. Echo gave a small giggle putting on a somewhat serious face.</p>
<p>"Now then sis, hope you're ready for this." Echo told her sis. Hibiki simply nodded before they both grabbed their Pokeballs and called out their Pokemon. As both Venemy and Ralts appeared, Hibiki thought of a simple strategy.</p>
<p>"<em>Should be simple enough. Fairy is weak to Poison after all, but the same could be said for Psychic against Poison.</em>" Hibiki thought as she looked at Venemy.</p>
<p>"Ralts, use Double Team!" Echo ordered. Ralts then split and made several copies of itself. "Don't think I don't know your plan. We both know how weaknesses work." Echo commented with a smile. Hibiki simply sighed as she examined the clones closely.</p>
<p>"Well… I have a solution to this. Venemy, use Rollout!" Hibiki said. Venemy then rolled into a sphere before speeding into one of the clones, destroying it. "Keep destroying the clones!" Hibiki called. Venemy did just that, picking up speed as he did so, until there were three .</p>
<p>"Confusion now!" Echo said. Ralts and its clones then concentrated as the attack connected and caused Venemy to stop its attack.</p>
<p>"You ok Venemy?" Hibiki asked, a bit concerned. Venemy simply shook itself off and gave an affirmative grunt. "Not a bad attack sis." Hibiki said as Ralts returned to normal.</p>
<p>"Thanks, we both know that one attack will probably take care of Ralts. No offense dear." Echo said. Ralts simply gave a quick nod before looking at Venemy. "Double Team once again!" Echo ordered, causing Ralts to split again. After seeing this maneuver again, Hibiki got an idea.</p>
<p>"Venemy, use Rollout again, but don't hit any of the clones!" Hibiki ordered. Melody, who was watching from the sidelines, was curious about this order, but Venemy understood what his trainer asked. Venemy then did as he was told and rolled between the clones, getting faster as he did.</p>
<p>"And what exactly is your plan here?" Echo asked, a hint of smugness in her voice. Almost immediately after she said that, a small cloud of dust started to form. Keeping an eye on all the Ralts, Hibiki simply breathed and focused. A few seconds had passed and Venemy was starting to slow down, but that's when she saw a Ralts attempting to clear the air around them.</p>
<p>"There Venemy!" Hibiki called out. Venemy then immediately headed to where his trainer said at full speed and hit its mark as it found the real Ralts. Ralts was immediately knocked back and attempted to stand up before falling on the ground.</p>
<p>"Ralts!" Echo exclaimed as she ran up to her Pokemon. Venemy then unrolled and steddied itself on the ground as Hibiki gave it a proud pat. "Are you ok?" Echo asked. Ralts gave a weak cry in confirmation and Echo simply sighed as she returned Ralts to it's POkeball. "I have to admit, that was a really smart move. Using Rollout to kick up dirt to find the real Ralts is something I didn't expect. How did you find the real one though?" Echo commented.</p>
<p>"I just did what I always do, I focused and listened." Hibiki told her sister.</p>
<p>"<em>Listened?</em>" Melody questioned.</p>
<p>"It's something I can do if I focus, just listen to various things a lot better than normal. Really helps with music." Hibiki explained as she recalled Venemy.</p>
<p>"Still, I'm surprised you managed to do that. It's definitely a skill I wish I had." Echo admitted.</p>
<p>"I could say the same for you and your tech skills." Hibiki told her sis, cheering her up a bit. The two of them continued on to Harmony Town, with Melody floating behind them and thinking a few things to herself.</p>
<p>"<em>Maybe this won't be so bad, Hibiki seems to know what she's doing. She also seems really talented just naturally with that advanced hearing and battle strategies.</em>" Melody thought as she followed the two into town.</p>
<hr/>
<p>After a few more minutes of walking, the group arrived in Harmony Town. Compared to their hometown, Harmony Town was a bit more technologically advanced with AR stations, robots, and lots of mechanical things all around. As they entered the town, Melody entered her Pokeball herself stealthily. "You know, I still don't get why you made her do that. Like so what if people see her?" Echo told Hibiki.</p>
<p>"I mean… you know how people can spread info and rumors fast. I'm just trying to minimize it at the moment." Hibiki explained. Echo simply nodded as they walked by an antique store. As they rounded a corner, Hibiki stopped her sister as she looked ahead for a moment. "I was hoping to not run into him here." Hibiki said as she saw a familiar face. Echo looked ahead curiously and saw her sister looking at a group of three people talking.</p>
<p>"Who are you talking about?" Echo questioned.</p>
<p>"Wind and what I'm assuming are his friends." Hibiki responded cautiously. Echo simply nodded before they walked by them, stopping at a store near them. Deciding to get a look at to get a description of them to tell the IPP, she glanced over at the group while not making it obvious she was. From her current angle, she could see who she assumed were Wolf and Krystal. Wolf was a tall guy, looking to be around 25 years old, with black hair, brown eyes with a scar over his right eye, and tan skin wearing a black leather jacket, gray shirt, purple pants, and black boots. Krystal was an average sized girl, about 21 years old, with light blue hair, silver eyes, and white skin, wearing a sky blue blouse, blue jeans, and sea blue shoes. While she couldn't see Wind, she didn't remember how he looked, she could hear a bit of the conversation.</p>
<p>"Look, for right now, we split up. I'll go give our report, you two see what you can find about our target." Wind told the two. They simply nodded before walking away from Wind, leaving him alone. "Well, this is certainly going to be an explanation." Wind sighed before he turned and began to walk away. As he passed by the sisters, he stopped for a moment before turning around and looking at Echo. "Pardon me, but I feel like I've seen you before." Wind said awkwardly. Hibiki looked over at Echo before she sighed and turned to face WInd.</p>
<p>"Is that you Wind?" Hibiki asked in an unassuming voice. Taking the time to look at Wind, he was about 5' 10, about the same age as Krystal, with light green hair, blue eyes, white skin, wearing a green shirt, a sky blue jacket tied around his waist, green shorts, and blue sneakers.</p>
<p>"Oh Hibiki. I thought I saw you. Who's your friend if you don't mind me asking?" Wind said.</p>
<p>"That would be my twin sister, Echo." Hibiki said as Echo turned to face Wind.</p>
<p>"Huh, you two do look similar. Sorry about the misunderstanding Miss Echo." Wind said a bit sheepishly.</p>
<p>"It's fine, happens all the time." Echo told Wind, playing along with her sister.</p>
<p>"Anyway, you two are starting your journey for the League?" Wind questioned.</p>
<p>"Yep, I hope we get through it with no issues." Hibiki said, knowing full well everything could go horribly wrong.</p>
<p>"Honestly, I'm a little envious. I'm a bit too caught up in Pokemon research to join this time around." Wind said a bit sheepishly.</p>
<p>"Awe, well best of luck in your research. Speaking of the League though, do you have any tips you could give if you've attempted it before?" Echo asked. Wind stayed silent for a moment as he thought of an answer.</p>
<p>"There's no real tips I could give from when I remember other than a couple of things that I recall from my attempt that are commonly known. First, except for the Destiny Gym, all the gyms each have different teams based on the amount of badges you have. Second, the gym leaders will not be there all the time or will be away for a while. For example, I know Noire, the Dark type Gym Leader is going to be unavailable for about a month due to personal reasons. Lastly, and this a piece of advice, save the Noise Gym for last. That place is kind of infamous for being a pain to reach." Wind told the two.</p>
<p>As the two twins took that information in, Hibiki looked out to the north and saw a sight that she never gets tired of seeing. "Hey Wind, have you ever been up there?" Hibiki said as she pointed to the location. Wind looked to where she was pointing and smiled as he saw a familiar floating plateau over a mountain range.</p>
<p>"The Champion's Heaven, home of the Pokemon League? I have actually been there, made it to the Top 4." Wind said.</p>
<p>"Really? That is very interesting." Echo said, a bit surprised to hear that. Wind simply rubbed the back of his head before he looked at his phone.</p>
<p>"Sorry about the sudden urge to chat, but I have to go. Have a really important report to give to my bosses." Wind said nervously as he started to back away.</p>
<p>"Ok, nice to talk to you Wind." Hibiki told Wind as she waved goodbye. As Wind left their sight, Hibiki simply sighed as Echo looked at her sister.</p>
<p>"You know, I don't see what's your problem with Wind. He seems like a nice guy and was a top 4 in a previous League." Echo said. Hibiki simply looked away sheepishly with a slight blush on her face.</p>
<p>"W-Well, you know how I get. I still have my suspicions, but I know for sure the other two are the ones I heard the names of." Hibiki said.</p>
<p>"Either way, let's not think about them for now. I just want to take some time to relax before we take off to Symphony Town." Echo said as she eyed the Pokemon Center. Hibiki simply nodded and the two headed to the Pokemon Center.</p>
<hr/>
<p>After they checked into the Pokemon Center, they headed to their room and proceeded to talk with Melody, who had linked up with Echo as well, about what happened with Wind. "<em>Well that does sound like the group that was chasing me, if only for the names. I can't say much for the appearance of them since they were in armor that didn't have a marking.</em>" Melody told the two as she sat on a counter.</p>
<p>"So it's entirely possible that those three are completely innocent?" Echo asked as she sat on one of the two beads in the room.</p>
<p>"Not exactly, it's just a possibility, Like I said, I have my suspicions, but I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt for now." Hibiki commented, sitting on the other bed.</p>
<p>"<em>... You are too nice for your own good.</em>" Melody said with a sigh.</p>
<p>"That's Hibiki for you." Echo said with a small smile. Hibiki simply looked away and blushed as she gave a small pouty face.</p>
<p>"<em>So to move away from that topic, and pardon me for asking a fairly obvious question, but how does the Pokemon League in Alaria differ from other Leagues?</em>" Melody asked. Echo, after hearing that, got out her laptop and connected it to the projector in the room which powered on to show a map of the Alaria region.</p>
<p>"If you're asking that Melody, then I assume you know of how other Leagues operate with the gym order and all that. What separates Alaria is mainly how the Gyms are done. It's still the 8 gyms, but they can be done in any order, except for the Destiny Gym which is always last, unlike other regions that usually have a set circuit. The leaders also use different sets of Pokemon depending on how many badges the challenger has and even throw in a few curveballs later on to keep the challengers on their toes." Echo explained.</p>
<p>"Ok, why is the Destiny Gym excluded from that order rule?" Melody inquired.</p>
<p>"It's always the last gym because it's more meant to be a test of a trainer's skills and team composition. The leader there usus various types of Pokemon and is very skilled on top of that. It's not an easy task to bring him down, which is why he's saved for last." Echo told Melody. Melody simply nodded before turning to the Mountain range in the distance and the floating plateau. "That is another thing that is different, the Champion's Heaven, home to the Pokemon League. Obviously there is the usual Victory Road and when you get to the end, you are teleported to the plateau. However, the main difference is being able to reach the Pokemon League without all the badges." Echo said.</p>
<p>"<em>Ok, what kind of loophole is this?</em>" Melody questioned curiously. In response, Echo pulled up an image of the mountain range and zoomed in on the mountain with the highest peak.</p>
<p>"Mount Heaven's Reach is home to the Victory Road and a very interesting alternative known as the Challenger's Climb. The Challenger's Climb is an alternate route for anyone who wants to get to the league but doesn't have all of the badges. Simply put, it is an absolutely rigorous climb that trainers can attempt. If they get to the end within 2 hours of starting their trek, they will be accepted as a League challenger." Echo elaborated.</p>
<p>"<em>Wow… that sounds hard and grueling. How many have successfully done the trek?</em>" Melody asked.</p>
<p>"Only like 20-30 in total since it's been introduced. For reference, at least a good 2000 people have attempted it." Echo told Melody. Melody simply nodded before turning to Hibiki, who had been quiet the whole time. She then saw that Hibiki was silently reading a notebook intensely.</p>
<p>"<em>Are you ok Hibiki?</em>" Melody questioned. Hibiki gave a quick yelp as she shook a bit, earning a giggle from Echo.</p>
<p>"Sorry, what were you talking about?" Hibiki said as she put down the notebook.</p>
<p>"I was just explaining how the league worked to Melody. Your reading over grandma's songbook?" Echo told Hibiki as she moved next to her.</p>
<p>"Yeah… I just don't believe mom gave this to me." Hibiki said with a sad smile.</p>
<p>"You really loved her a lot, didn't you?" Echo said, a sad frown on her face. Hibiki simply nodded as Melody simply floated over Hibiki's shoulder and looked at the songbook herself.</p>
<p>"<em>... This is amazing, your grandmother must have been an amazing musician.</em>" Melody said as she looked at the songs on the notebook. Hibiki continued to look through the songbook for a few more minutes with melody and Echo before she closed it and put it away into her bag, a few tears welling up in her eyes.</p>
<p>"You going to ok sis?" Echo asked in a caring tone.</p>
<p>"Yeah… just remembering grandma." Hibiki said in a somewhat cracked voice, wiping the tears away. Echo gave her sister a hug from behind, which made Hibiki smile before she quickly slapped herself lightly. "All right then, let's get to bed. I'm excited for our next stop." Hibiki said as she laid down on her bed. Echo simply nodded as she did the same and Melody returned to her Pokeball. "Love you sis, good night." Hibiki said as she turned off the room light. Echo returned that sentiment before they both started to snore loudly.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Chapter 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>Chapter 4: Noisy Forest</strong>
</p>
<p>Morning had come and the two sisters were awake in their room getting ready to head to Symphony Town. "So, our first stop is going to be Symphony town?" Hibiki asked as she packed up everything while Melody watched.</p>
<p>"Yep. We could go to the Ice Biodome, but Symphonic Town is probably the safer option." Echo told Hibiki.</p>
<p>"<em>Biodome?</em>" Melody questioned.</p>
<p>"Alaria is a very technologically advanced region, thought it might not be that obvious because there isn't really a lot of technology out here in the more rural areas. A Biodome is a dome that is used to simulate certain environments, like deserts or frigid regions. The Ice Biodome to the north is an example of one as well as home to a gym." Echo told Melody.</p>
<p>"That brings up a question I've had actually. Where are you from, cause you don't seem to be from around here if you don't know what a Biodome is?" Hibiki questioned curiously.</p>
<p>"<em>Despite what you might think, I am actually native to the Alaria Region, though I did live in the far secluded areas of the wilderness. I just didn't know that humans made those things</em>." Melody said.</p>
<p>"Interesting, I didn't expect that response." Echo said.</p>
<p>"<em>I would have stayed at my home in the wIlderness, but you already know how that went.</em>" Melody said, a hint of bitterness in her voice.</p>
<p>"If you want, after all is said and done, I could take you back to your home." Hibiki said with a big grin. Melody gave a small smile out of shock while Echo simply gave Hibiki a light smack on the head.</p>
<p>"No, even if we do become good trainers, you know mom would kill us if we did that." Echo told her sister. Hibiki gave a slight pouty face before she looked back to Melody and extended the Pokeball out to her. Melody simply pushed the button and entered the Pokeball herself, before Hibiki put it back on her belt.</p>
<p>"You know, I've been meaning to say this, but I'm still a bit confused why you helped out Melody in the first place. I mean, I know you really love helping others out and all, but I just don't get why Melody." Echo told her sister. Hibiki thought about that for a moment as they left the room and headed out of the Pokemon Center.</p>
<p>"Naturally, you're completely right and can read me like an open book. I'm not even sure why I helped Melody myself." Hibiki said as she stopped for a moment and got out Melody's Pokeball. Echo turned to look at Hibiki, who had a sad smile on her face. "Truth be told, when I saw her, I couldn't help but see my younger self in her at that moment." Hibiki said.</p>
<p>"... That I can understand." Echo said, a small smile as she reminisced on their past. Hibiki simply shook her head before they proceeded to go out into the Humming Forest.</p><hr/>
<p>As the two entered the Humming Forest, a perpetual humming was heard as they walked by some of the trees. "So this is the Humming Forest?" Hibiki said as she released Melody.</p>
<p>"Yep, normally kids who aren't trainers aren't allowed to go through here alone." Echo explained as she took out her Pokeball and called out Ralts.</p>
<p>"<em>So, what exactly is the plan for our route currently?</em>" Melody questioned.</p>
<p>"At the moment, we are planning on heading to Symphonic Town and taking on the Normal type Gym. Before either going up to the Fairy Tale Forest and the town there, or head down to Export City and Verdant Island." Hibiki explained as Echo ran ahead a bit. Hibiki brought out Venemy's Pokeball and let him out as well before looking around. "Now on the topic of Gyms, let me ask you a question, do you want to be a part of my team for those battles?" Hibiki asked Melody as they followed Echo.</p>
<p>".<em>..I don't see why not. The reason I told you about that first rule is only because I don't want to be seen by a lot of people. As long as we can keep me a secret, I'm fine battling with you for anything.</em>" Melody responded nonchalantly. Hibiki simply nodded as they continued along the forest trail. After about an hour of travel, Echo and Hibiki had both trained their Pokemon a bit, with Melody watching from a distance, and catching a few temporary team members.</p>
<p>"Not bad sis, I think we're ready for the Symphony Gym." Echo said as she stretched.</p>
<p>"Agreed. By the way, do you know what this perpetual humming is? I've kind of been wondering about it ever since we got in." Hibiki responded.</p>
<p>"I honestly don't know, but if I had to guess, it's probably the various Pokemon moving throughout the Forest causing the humming." Echo told Hibiki. Melody simply closed her eyes and listened for a moment, letting a small smile appear on her face. Hibiki nodded at that and was going to say something when a revelation dawned on her.</p>
<p>"Hey Melody?" Hibiki called out.</p>
<p>"<em>Yes?</em>" Melody responded.</p>
<p>"I just remembered something that could be an issue for us." Hibiki said as she squeezed her nose. Echo was about to say something when Melody heard something unusual.</p>
<p>"<em>I hear something… it sounds like a scuffle.</em>" Melody said.</p>
<p>"Of course they would show up now." Hibiki sighed before running towards the disturbance. Echo and Melody followed Hibiki as she ran through the forest, Eventually they caught up to Hibiki, who was hiding behind some shrubbery. She motioned for them to kneel down and look ahead, which Echo did while Melody floated on Melody's head. In the clearing ahead of them, there were two people dressed in purple &amp; blue outfits, which immediately looked familiar to the sisters, that looked to just be harassing some Pokemon.</p>
<p>"Right… I forgot about Team Noise." Echo whispered, cursing herself for forgetting about them.</p>
<p>"Team Noise?" Melody inquired.</p>
<p>"They're a bunch of troublemakers from Noise Town, home of the Poison Gym. They usually only do petty things and are annoying to gym challenges, but they have actually been stealing people's Pokemon and some other crimes more recently." Hibiki explained as she grabbed Venemy's Pokeball.</p>
<p>"<em>And if I'm going to guess, when something gets known to them, that spreads like wildfire among other members?</em>" Melody said. The two simply nodded as they saw the Team Noise Members call out their Pokemon, a Sparrow and a Sandile.</p>
<p>"Ok, I am not going to just sit down and let this happen." Hibiki said as she got ready to go out. Echo held her sister's arm for a moment, causing her to turn.</p>
<p>"Hey… you're not going at this alone." Echo told her sis with a smile. Hibiki simply nodded before motioning to Melody to stay put, which she begrudgingly agreed to. The two then walked out in the clearing, getting the attention of the two Team Noise Grunts.</p>
<p>"Well, well, what do we have here? A pair of newbie trainers?" the male grunt said.</p>
<p>"Yeah of course, what else did you expect?" Hibiki responded.</p>
<p>"A smartass aren't you? Well don't worry, we can sort that out nice and quick." the female grunt said a bit gleefully as her Spearow flew in front of her.</p>
<p>"We'll see about that." Echo said they called out their pokemon.</p>
<p>"Sandile, do me a favor and take care of that Ralts will you?" the male Grunt said nonchalantly as the Sandile waddled towards Ralts.</p>
<p>"Don't even think about it. Venemy, use Rollout!" Hibiki ordered. Venomy simply followed that order and charged at Sandile.</p>
<p>"Spearow, use Quick Attack." the female grunt ordered. Spearow immediately sped towards Venemy and knocked it back, causing it to cancel it's attack. Hibiki was shocked as she knew that Spearow could only learn that move through breeding.</p>
<p>"Looks like I underestimated your Pokemon caring skills, but that leaves me with a question. Why would you join team Noise rather than become a Pokemon Breeder?" Hibiki asked as Venemy recovered.</p>
<p>"And why should I tell you that?" the female grunt said smugly. Hibiki simply glared back as Venemy focused on the Spearow.</p>
<p>"And here I was thinking this would be simple. Ralts, do your best against Sandile for now." Echo sighed. Ralts simply nodded as he faced the sandile and the male grunt. Ralts immediately used Double Team and created five clones of itself.</p>
<p>"Sandile use Hone Claws and power yourself up." the male grunt said as Sandile got ready to attack. Echo observed the situation calmly and started to think of a strategy.</p>
<p>"Ralts, use Disarming Voice then Double Team once more!" Echo ordered. Ralts then opened its mouth before letting out a cry that hurt Sandile and all the clones splinted into three more copies.</p>
<p>"You really think that's going to work?" the male grunt said as Sandile moved towards the clones.</p>
<p>"Of course I do, Ralts, line up." Echo told Ralts. All the Ralts clones then lined up and moved around. The grunt simply just stared at Ralts before Sandile proceeded to use Sand Tomb on one set of clones.</p>
<p>"Ok, so what is that supposed to do again?" the grunt asked asanoth set went down. Echo simply smiled as Ralts used Disarming Voice again, causing Sandile to take more damage as it kept taking down the clones. "Ok, finish this up Sandile. Use Earthquake." the grunt ordered in an annoyed tone. Echo went wide eyes at that name as the ground around the clones shook and caused them all to disappear, covered by a cloud of smoke.</p>
<p>"Ralts!" Echo exclaimed, getting the attention of Hibiki. When the smoke cleared, there was no sign of Ralts anywhere, which made the grunt confused.</p>
<p>"Venemy, Rollout on Sandile now!" Hibiki said. Venemy nodded before turning to Sandile and doing as ordered. Spearow proceeded to move in to attack venemy when Echo smiled.</p>
<p>"Ralts, take care of Sparrow with Confusion!" Echo ordered. Sparrow then wobbled for a moment before flying into a tree revealing Ralts standing by it. Venemy then rammed into Sandile, knocking it out before it turned and attacked Spearow.</p>
<p>"How did that Ralts even get over there?" the male grunt asked as he recalled his Sandile.</p>
<p>"Simple, I made him move along with his clones. When I told them to line up, he made an extra clone while he hid so he could move away. Judging by the fact that your friend is a good breeder, safe to say that she helped some other Noise Members get some good moves both by breeding and possibly some Technical Machines." Echo explained smugly as Ralts waddled up to her. Hibiki simply gave her sis a thumbs up as Venemy rammed into Spearow, knocking it out.</p>
<p>"Spearow!" the female grunt said as she recalled her pokemon.</p>
<p>'Nice job Venemy." Hibiki said as she ran up to the group of local pokemon and rushed them away.</p>
<p>"Don't think you're done with us yet, go Mightyana!" the female grund said as she threw out another Pokeball and called her Pokemon.</p>
<p>"Yeah, go Seviper!" the male grunt said as both it and Mightyana appeared and snarled.</p>
<p>"... I have made a great error." Hibiki said as Venemy hid behind her. As the two Pokemon started to approach them, a song could be heard throughout the forest.</p>
<p>"<em>Yes you have, now let me take care of these two alone.</em>" Hibiki heard in her head as she looked around for the source of the song. Eventually, she saw Melody casually sitting on a branch singing before standing and hopping onto the ground in front of Hibiki.</p>
<p>"Woah, a Shiny Meloetta. Must be the protector of this forest." the female grunt said.</p>
<p>"Melody, what are you doing?" Hibiki questioned mentally.</p>
<p>"<em>I'm simply protecting my trainer, besides they don't know I'm your Pokemon. I also believe that you need to know exactly what my capabilities are if you do intend to use me in the gym challenge.</em>" Melody responded smugly. Hibiki thought for a moment on how to respond before realizing she was right and sighing.</p>
<p>"Listen Meloetta, as much as we appreciate you showing up, why don't you just run along and leave these bad trainers to us?" the male grunt said. Melody simply looked at the grunt before just sighing and getting into a combat stance. "Awe come on, you're just going to let us innocent be blamed for their mess?" the male grunt asked in a mocking tone before being elbows by his friend. Melody then swiftly used Confusion on Seviper, causing it to lunge at Melody.</p>
<p>"Alright then, we'll leave it to you." Hibiki told Melody before recalling Venemy and running behind a tree, Echo doing the same. Melody dodged the lunge and casually looked over at the Mightyena before dashing up to it and punching it, causing it to howl in some pain.</p>
<p>"Brick Break?! Looks like we got a unique one here." the female said as Mightyena dashed forward towards Melody. Meloetta gracefully dodged out of the way and looked at the two pokemon with a small look of pity.</p>
<p>"Apologies for what I'm about to do to you two, I'm only doing it because you're owners are assholes." Melody told them in a sympathetic tone. They both simply snarled at her before they continued to attack and Melody simply stood there.</p>
<p>"She seems a bit egotistical." Echo commented as they continued to watch the fight.</p>
<p>"Maybe, but there seems to be a method to it." Hibiki mentioned. Echo simply shrugged as they watched Melody dodge a bite from Seviper and hopped over the Mightyena. Echo then used Confusion once again on Seviper, but the Mightyena jumped in front of the attack.</p>
<p>"<em>Well then, they're a bit more coordinated than I thought.</em>" Melody thought. The Seviper then dashed under the Mightyena and wrapped its tail around Melody, squeezing her. Melody then smiled for a moment before she began to sing a song. As Seviper moved to bite Melody, she glowed white briefly as her appearance changed. Seviper then struggled as Melody, now in her Pirouette form, forced her way out of the hold and grabbed it by the tail.</p>
<p>Mightyena then moved in for an attack before getting slammed as Melody swung Seviper around in a circle and tossed it towards the tree. Seviper was able to react in time to wrap around the tree, but was immediately hit with a Zen Headbutt by Melody, knocking it out. Melody then landed before looking over at the Mightyena and taunted at it. Mightyena simply charged at Melody as she closed her eyes in concentration, dodging the incoming attack she felt from the pokemon. She then kicked Mightyena with enough focus to send it through a tree, knocking it out.</p>
<p>"...My god." the female grunt said in shock of seeing both their Pokemon get dealt with easily. Meloetta glared at the two grunts menacingly as they called their Pokemon back.</p>
<p>"We-We'll remember this!" the male grunt said as they left the clearing. Melody simply huffed as she sang her Relic Song once more and changed back to Aria Form.</p>
<p>"<em>You both can come out now.</em>" Melody told the two as she floated in place. Hibiki and Echo silently walked forward, in awe of the display of power. "<em>Before you say anything, might I suggest we head towards town?</em>" Melody suggested. The two simply nodded as they proceeded to walk out of the grove the fight had taken place in.</p><hr/>
<p>The group walked in silence as they continued through the forest. "<em>So… I take it that my strength left you both speechless?</em>" Melody questioned.</p>
<p>"Of course it did. You were amazing back there. Still makes me wonder why you decided to join me though?" Hibiki commented. Melody then looked at Hibiki with a hint of shock on her face. "Look, as much as I appreciate you joining, I still don't know your reasons aside from needing to be safe from those captors. Even then, you seem to be a bit weak, so what's the deal?" Hibiki questioned.</p>
<p>"<em>... He, you're pretty smart. Truth be told, those people managed to mess me up more than I like to admit. It was 3 on 1 against me, but I could still hold my own for a bit. But then they brought out some odd Pokemon and managed to exhaust me enough that my recovery is going slow even though I was attended by the Professor.</em>" Melody explained.</p>
<p>"Odd in what way?" Echo questioned.</p>
<p>"<em>I don't know exactly, but they just didn't feel right. I can't really think of a better way to describe it at the moment.</em>" Melody said. Hibiki made a mental note of that as she looked at Melody.</p>
<p>"Still feel a bit exhausted then?" Hibiki asked. Melody simply responded with a nod that made Hibiki smile. "Must have been something strong then. I know you're only a Pokemon, mythical one for sure, but even still just a Pokemon." Hibiki told Melody.</p>
<p>"<em>Huh, you're one of the first humans to treat me like a regular Pokemon rather than a rare, mythical one.</em>" Melody said, a small smile creeping on her face. Hibiki simply smiled as Echo nodded in approval of her sister's statement. "<em>By the way Echo, have you noticed that Sewaddle on your backpack?</em>" Melody pointed out. Echo stopped in her tracks and turned to Hibiki, who simply nodded as she saw the small Pokemon grasping onto Echo's backpack.</p>
<p>"How did we not notice that?" Hibiki questioned as Echo took off her backpack and looked at the Swaddle.</p>
<p>"Hey there little guy, you lost?" Echo said in a caring tone. The Seawaddle looked up at Echo with a happy look and the backpack was set down. Deciding to make this simple, Melody floated over and started to talk with the Pokemon. After about a minute, Melody looked at Echo.</p>
<p>"<em>He says he's a curious type and saw us fighting those Team Noise Grunts. He wants to come along with us.</em>" Melody told Echo. Echo gave a quick glance to her sister who gave her a simple thumbs up before Echo carefully reached into her backpack and pulled out a Pokeball. Echo simply held it out to Swaddle, who stared at it for a moment before tapping the button and getting taken into it. After a few shakes, a click came from the Pokeball and Echo simply smiled happily.</p>
<p>"Happy for you sis, and a bit jealous. I always wanted to raise a Sewaddle and before you ask, no I'm not catching one right now." Hibiki said as she pat her sis on the shoulder.</p>
<p>"Yeah, that's fair. You also have Melody with you and this might just be me saying things, but there seems to be something interesting between you two." Echo said as she put the Pokeball away on her belt. The two looked at each other for a moment before looking away. "Either way, come on, we're at the edge of the forest." Echo told them. The two nodded as they all proceeded to walk out of the forest leaving it behind them. Meanwhile, two figures behind them watched the group get further away.</p>
<p>"So that's the Meloetta they're after?" the first voice asked.</p>
<p>"I would have to say so, a Meloetta with light blue hair. Not often you see one of those, but even rarer to see a starting trainer with one." the other voice said. The first figure nodded before looking towards the group and following them. "The Meloetta's trainer?" the second voice questioned, already knowing his friend's reasoning.</p>
<p>"Yep, something tells me that they'll be like you were back when we first met." The first voice said confidently.</p>
<p>"All right, I'll be heading back to Alaria City. Tell me what happens with her." the second voice said with a sigh as he activated a teleporter and was whisked away. The man who the first voice belonged to simply smiled as he fixed his glasses and proceeded to follow Hibiki, Echo, and Melody.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Chapter 5</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>AN: So this chapter might feel a little off to some people which makes total sense given how I wrote it. If you have any problems with this chapter, I apologize but I am still learning how to write better. That being said, enjoy the chapter anyway.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>Chapter 5: A Symphonic Welcome</strong>
</p>
<p>As the group exited the forest, they saw Symphony Town ahead of them. "There it is, Symphony Town. Home of the gym people tend to go for first, the Normal gym." Hibiki said happily. Melody processed that for a moment before looking at Echo.</p>
<p>"<em>Wouldn't my Pirouette form make that gym a joke?</em>" Melody asked Echo.</p>
<p>"In any other gym challenge, yes. In Alaria however, we do things a bit differently." Echo told Melody. Melody raised an eyebrow, curious to hear what Echo had to say. "Basically, if a trainer feels they'll have too easy of a time in any gym, they can request the gym leader to either upgrade their team to a more challenging one or throw in Pokemon of different types." Echo explained.</p>
<p>"<em>Huh, that's actually kind of cool. I never really thought to learn how the gyms worked because I never thought this would be something I do.</em>" Melody said with a nod.</p>
<p>"It's not often that people ask for it, but it's there if people want to use it." Echo noted.</p>
<p>"I'll definitely be asking to see what I can do with you, but maybe ask for a mix of both." Hibiki commented. Melody was going to say something when she felt something and turned around to check, seeing nothing behind her. "Something wrong Melody?" Hibiki questioned.</p>
<p>"I don't know how to describe it, but it feels like I'm being watched. I wouldn't be surprised if it's the Team Noise Grunts from earlier or I might just be imagining things. Either way, we should hurry to town and I shouldn't need to say this, but keep me in my Pokeball for as long as we're in town." Melody explained. Hibiki nodded, deciding to trust in Melody, before they continued on their trek.</p>
<p>"You think anything is going to happen at Symphony Town besides our gym challenges?" Echo questioned.</p>
<p>"Why do you tempt fate sis?" Hibiki groaned. Echo simply laughed at the comment as Hibiki sighed.</p>
<p>"Speaking of tempting fate, what is Symphony Town like so I know?" Melody asked.</p>
<p>"Well, Symphony Town is a bustling town south of the capital, Alaria City. It's a very music oriented town, with a lot of music stores, instrument shops, and a big performance hall that a lot of people visit. It's also home to the Normal Gym of the region, and it's gym leader is a very famous musician in Alaria." Hibiki said.</p>
<p>"Huh, this will be interesting." Melody said as she thought about something. Unknown to the group, a little bit behind them, a figure emerged from behind a tree a bit back towards the exit to the forest.</p>
<p>"That Meloetta sure is observant, thought I had hidden myself well for sure. Ah well, looks like she's in good hands. Still… this gives me a chance to check how much they're in sync and maybe give them a gift." the figure said as they walked a good distance behind the group.</p><hr/>
<p>Hibiki and Echo, with Melody in her Pokeball, arrived at Symphony Town and they saw quite a lot of people in town doing various things. "Wow, there's quite a lot of people here. I wonder if something is going on or about to happen." Hibiki commented as they walked through town.</p>
<p>"If I remember correctly, there is a concert going on later today, meaning that we're probably not going to be able to challenge the gym." Echo said.</p>
<p>"... You know, that's probably the case. I wouldn't be surprised if Sonata is at least taking part in whatever is happening." Hibiki said as they walked to the Gym just to check if it was closed. As they walked on, they saw various people talking and dressed up in different outfits, some of which looked familiar to Hibiki. "Must be something Symphogear related, I recognised some of the cosplays as characters from the show." Hibiki commented.</p>
<p>"Of course you would know that." Echo said as she rolled her eyes. The two proceeded onward to the gym and when they got there, they saw a girl walking out of the gym. The girl had blue hair in short pigtails, beige skin, pink eyes and was wearing a blue dress, white jeans, and blue boots. As they approached, the girl turned to face them with a small look of annoyance.</p>
<p>"The Gym is closed and sorry if I sound a bit snappy. Just a bit annoyed due to how many trainers have visited and I had to tell them the same thing." the girl said before letting out a big sigh.</p>
<p>"We had a feeling, but we just wanted to check to be sure. You're Sonata, the gym leader right?" Hibiki questioned.</p>
<p>"That would be me. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to get going." Sonata said as she walked past them.</p>
<p>"What is going on today by the way?" Echo questioned.</p>
<p>"A Symphogear Concert and Festival, I'm one of the singers there." Sonata said. Hibiki went wide eyed for a moment before pulling out a pair of tickets labeled "<em>Symphogear Fest: Regular Pass</em>".</p>
<p>"Right, forgot that was today." Hibiki said out of embarrassment.</p>
<p>"Huh, you must have gotten those early. Those sold out fast so count yourself lucky." Sonata said when turned and she saw them.</p>
<p>"Is that what Mom got you for Christmas?" Echo asked, causing Hibiki to blush profusely. Sonata smiled for a moment before she remembered a weird visit that she had yesterday.</p>
<p>"Say, you two wouldn't happen to know an Anabel would you?" Sonata questioned. The two sisters immediately stopped their joking before turning and nodding in response. "I see… you know what, I want you two to walk with me to the concert hall. We'll talk on the way." Sonata said as she put on Sunglasses and a fedora. Hibiki looked at Echo for a moment before smiling and following Sonata.</p>
<p>"I swear, she is too excitable at times." Echo said to herself as she followed her sister. As the two caught up to Sonata, they started to chat about a few things so it didn't feel as awkward.</p>
<p>"Huh, so you both just became trainers yesterday and you got… your partner due to that event?" Sonata questioned after Hibiki finished her story.</p>
<p>"Yep, that's about it." Hibiki said as she looked around.</p>
<p>"I have to say, that seems kind of unbelievable, but at the same time, Anabel did visit me yesterday." Sonata said with a sigh.</p>
<p>"I can only imagine how that went when you first met her." Echo commented.</p>
<p>"Definitely panicked a little bit at first." Sonata admitted. Hibiki giggled a little at that as the theater came into view and several booths and stands were outside. Sonata led the sisters to the side of the theater, where there was a person in a suit standing by a door.</p>
<p>"Ah, Miss Sonata, perfect timing. Are these your friends?" the guard asked.</p>
<p>"Yes they are, they have tickets for the event, but I want to talk with them for a bit and arrange for them to get backstage passes." Sonata told the guard. The guard simply nodded and opened the door, allowing the three of them entry which they took and went in, before closing the door behind them.</p><hr/>
<p>Once inside, Hibiki and Echo, mostly Hibiki, were looking around and seeing several people running around with their pokemon and getting everything ready. "Wow, looks like all the staff are really busy." Hibiki commented.</p>
<p>"This event has been planned for a while, of course everyone wants this to be a success." Sonata mentioned. Hibiki simply nodded as Sonata led the two to an empty meeting room of sorts and after they entered, Sonata simply locked the door. "So since we're here and I kind of want something in exchange for those backstage passes, do you think I could see that Meloetta you were telling me about." Sonata asked, very clearly blushing from embarrassment.</p>
<p>"... I don't see why not, only seems fair." Hibiki said as she got out Melody's Music Ball. Hibiki tossed the Music ball in the air and called out Melody, who took a moment to get her bearings before Hibiki explained what was going on. Sonata meanwhile couldn't help but be shocked when she saw Melody appear.</p>
<p>"Amazing. I had no reason to doubt your story, but it's still amazing to see a Meloetta, let alone a shiny one." Sonata said with some excitement in her voice.</p>
<p>"... This is the kind of thing that I try to avoid." Melody told Hibiki.</p>
<p>"Apologies for gawking, but this is just something I didn't expect to happen. Anyway, I think I can actually do you one better than backstage passes, just give me a sec." Sonata said as she unlocked the door and left the room, making sure no one was looking in. After she left, Melody simply floated onto Hibiki's shoulder with a huff.</p>
<p>"So I have to ask, if she's the gym leader and a famous idol, why are you not freaking out Hibiki?" Melody questioned.</p>
<p>"Oh trust me I am, but it's more internal. I don't want to embarrass myself." Hibiki mentioned.</p>
<p>"Though speaking of embarrassing yourself, what was that thing about forgetting the event today?" Echo teased.</p>
<p>"I don't know what you're talking about." Hibiki said as she blushed a little bit.</p>
<p>"You know I'm just playing sis. But seriously, I remember you begging mom for the tickets, how did you forget?" Echo asked.</p>
<p>"Our Trainer results came in like a week ago, you act like I wasn't nervous and excited about them." Hibiki commented. Echo opened her mouth to say something but quickly closed it as she remembered Hibiki's behavior last week.</p>
<p>"I swear, I got picked up by the strangest trainer." Melody thought as she put a hand to her head. After a few more minutes of talking and waiting, Sonata came back into the room and locked it.</p>
<p>"Sorry for the wait, I was just getting something ready." Sonata mentioned as she held a pair of passes.</p>
<p>"You don't have to do this for us, you know. After all, you did just meet us." Hibiki said.</p>
<p>"I know, but I feel like I have to… especially after the spook Anabel gave me yesterday." Sonata said with a small laugh and blush. Hibiki and Echo gave a laugh as well as Melody looked on and smiled. "Anyway, here you go." Sonata said, holding out the pair of passes. Hibiki took the passes and looked over them before doing a double take.</p>
<p>"Sonata, these are VIP passes. I thought you were just going to get us Backstage Passes, not VIP ones." Hibiki told Sonata.</p>
<p>"I know I was, but I just couldn't help it, plus two people who had VIPs apparently canceled yesterday, so we had free tickets. We could have just cleared up the space we reserved, but I figured why not give them to you." Sonata said. Hibiki simply went wide eyes and smiled very big before she froze up. Sonata saw this and waved a hand in front of Hibiki's face, getting a response in the form of Hibiki's eyes moving.</p>
<p>"Huh, well I didn't think that quirk would show up now." Echo said as she stood up from her seat.</p>
<p>"Is she going to be ok?" Sonata questioned, a little worried she might have done something.</p>
<p>"Yeah, it's just a quirk with her body. When she experiences heightened mental activity, sometimes it goes a bit too far and her muscles stiffen. She can still hear and see us though." Echo explained as she put a hand on Hibiki's shoulder.</p>
<p>"That sounds… a bit too convenient and weird." Sonata said with a look of doubt.</p>
<p>"I know, but from what I can tell, it seems to be psychic related. Our dad came from a family of psychics and we inherited some of the powers, though I never really use them. My sister can use them, but it is very dependent on her emotional state." Echo told Sonata. Sonata opened her mouth to say something, but just as quickly closed it because she knew a few psychics herself. "Either way, she'll be fine after a few minutes." Echo told Sonata with a smile.</p>
<p>"...Ok, I'll leave you two here then. Also if you don't mind me asking, is Meloetta going to be part of her team for the gym battle?" Sonata questioned. Melody simply nodded in response before hovering over to her trainer. "Got it, so I can at least think about it. The concert starts in about two and a half hours by the way, so feel free to spend that how you do." Sonata said before exiting the room. Echo looked over at Melody who simply just sighed as she sat on her trainer's head.</p>
<p>"So… were you making that psychic stuff up?" Melody asked. Echo stayed silent for a moment before she closed her eyes and concentrated on making a small ball of energy in her hand. Melody was shocked to see a clear purple ball of energy appear in Echo's hand before it quickly faded away as she opened her eyes. "Point taken, but this is the first time I've seen humans with a strong psychic connection. Most of the one's I've seen only know a bit of playful 'magic'." Melody told Echo.</p>
<p>"From what I understand, they don't come often in humans. Hibiki though is an especially weird case, due to her… special conditions." Echo said as she patted Hibiki on the shoulder. Before Melody could say anything, Echo slapped Hibiki hard across the face causing her to stumble onto the couch.</p>
<p>"God damn sis, you went hard on that one." Hibiki said as she rubbed her face.</p>
<p>"That being said, a good slap is all it takes to get her working again." Echo said as she smiled. Hibiki simply glared at her sister for a moment before she smiled as well.</p>
<p>"RIght, thanks for that sis. So anyway, what do you say we go enjoy ourselves before the concert?" Hibiki asked Echo in an excited voice. Echo simply nodded as Hibiki got out Melody's Music Ball to return her to it only to see Melody was not there. "Melody?" Hibiki called out.</p>
<p>"I'm here, just invisible." Melody told Hibiki. To prove her statement, Melody floated over to Hibiki and sat on her shoulder, causing Hibiki to turn and see nothing except an indent where Melody would be. "How do you think I'm able to safely see the human world? By the way, I can only keep this up for so long, which is why I didn't bring it up for our deal." Melody said, a bit of smugness in her voice.</p>
<p>"You really are a trickster aren't you?" Hibiki asked with a slight chuckle. Melody simply smiled as Hibiki put her Music Ball away. The group then got up and exited the room, excited to look around and get ready for the concert.</p><hr/>
<p>Over the next three hours, Hibiki and Echo, followed by Melody silently, went around the various booths and bought a few things after letting their mother know. At the moment, the group was sitting in a small seating area above the large concert hall full of people with one way glass. "You know I have to ask, how do you all have so much money?" Melody said as she looked at the receipts they had.</p>
<p>"Mom's the Gym Leader for the Noise Gym, so she gets lots of money as a bit of compensation for dealing with that place. Before you ask, no, she has no relation to Team Noise. While most of their members mainly come from Noise Town, they're completely unrelated to the Noise Gym." Echo said as she looked through the bags.</p>
<p>"Interesting. I take it your mom doesn't go by there much?" Melody asked.</p>
<p>"Yep." Hibiki simply said as she looked at the stage.</p>
<p>"Who is singing in this concert anyway, Hibiki?" Echo asked curiously.</p>
<p>"It's all the voice actors of the characters because they sing the songs of the show. Nana Mizuki, Ayahi Takagaki, Yōko Hikasa, Ai Kayano, Yoshino Nanjō and all the others that could make it. Sadly, one of the singers, Aoi Yuuki, wasn't able to make it due to being sick, but she handed her role to Sonata." Hibiki explained. A few more minutes had passed before the lights in the stadium dimmed. A spotlight then shined down on a figure on the stage as music started to play and the crowd started to cheer.</p>
<p>Song Name: UNLIMITED BEAT by Nana Mizuki (https://symphogear.fandom.com/wiki/UNLIMITED_BEAT)</p>
<p>
  <em>Kotoba ja tarinai kara</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Sora wa uta wo koboshita</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Sā nigire yume wo</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>(wow wow wow)</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>(wow wow wow)</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Hiritsuita saizensen de hashiri tsudzukeru riyū no</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Kotae wa kami-sama ja naku jibun ni shikanai</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Sakebu koe ga kikoeru (kikoeru)</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Senaka wo osu koe ga (kikoeru)</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Kono nakeru kurai</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Yūki ni naru chikara (itsudemo)</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Atatakai chikara (itsudemo)</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Tabanete ima wo ikite ikō</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>I've got your back</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Tatoe hoshi ga owari (unlimited beat)</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Ten no namida ni natte mo (unlimited beat)</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Inochi no memorī dake wa</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Uta e to nokoru</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>I've got your back</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Dakara tatakaunda (unlimited beat)</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Bokutachi wa ue wo muite (unlimited beat)</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Todoroke kaze yo hakobe</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Hikari to ai no oka de</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Kizuna to oto no umi de</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Tatenai hi mo nemurenu hi mo asu koso to omoeru no wa</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Kizuguchi goto dakishimeru kimi ga iru kara</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Dōkoku mo sangeki mo (kasanete)</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Omoide mo egao mo (kasanete)</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Mata toki to toki no</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Kuchidzuke ga tabi e to (izanau)</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Tsugi no jidai e (izanau)</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Tobō ka</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>I've got your back</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Zankyō shita kiseki (unlimited beat)</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Kono kyōmei shita tamashī (unlimited beat)</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Ketobase sadame nante</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Sonna mono wa nai</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>I've got your back</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Soshite tatakaunda (unlimited beat)</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Mirai e to kakugo matoi (unlimited beat)</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Nando mo moyashita darō?</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Shinjite kimi no kodō</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>(wow wow wow)</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>(wow wow wow)</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Issho ni miru to chikatta shinsekai wa</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Ginga no dono kirameki yori mo</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Konjiki no hana ni…!</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>I've got your back</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Tatoe hoshi ga owari (unlimited beat)</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Ten no namida ni natte mo (unlimited beat)</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Inochi no merodī dake wa</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Uta e to nokoru</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>I've got your back</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Dakara tatakaunda (unlimited beat)</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Tsunagiai tatakaunda (unlimited beat)</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Soko ni wa mita koto ga nai</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Zekkei ga saku darō</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Ima koso nigire yume wo</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>(wow wow wow)</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>(wow wow wow)</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Akiramezu nigire yume wo</em>
</p>
<p>The crowd then cheered as the song ended, with more spotlights shone on the stage and all the singers walked on the stage and greeted the fans. As they gave the opening speech, Melody looked on in wonder and amazement. "I can see you liked it." Hibiki said, shaking a little bit from excitement.</p>
<p>"That was… definitely a song." Melody said, trying to play it off.</p>
<p>"Come on, lighten up a little. You do have a battle tomorrow." Echo said, a good amount of excitement in her voice. After the opening speech was over, a few more songs were performed, each of which the crowd cheered for very loudly for. Over the next 45 minutes, the entire stadium was abuzz with excitement as several songs were sung by the various singers, Hibiki nerding out a lot. Soon the break started to let everyone catch their breath and Hibiki got out of her seat to stretch.</p>
<p>"I'm going to go cool down, don't want to have another incident while I'm here." Hibiki said as she walked towards their door.</p>
<p>"Ok, stay safe sis." Echo called out as she looked at Melody, who was moving her head to invisible music. Hibiki simply gave a thumbs up before she exited the room. Hibiki then walked a little bit and headed outside the theater before looking for a nice calm spot to just sit down and take a breather. As she looked around, she eventually found a nice and quiet place that had a good view of the night sky with one person she didn't expect to see standing there and looking up to the sky.</p>
<p>"Sonata?" Hibiki called out as she walked up to the idol. Sonata, in somewhat of a trance, yeled a bit before turning and seeing Hibiki.</p>
<p>"Oh Hibiki, didn't think you would be out here." Sonata said as her heart rate dropped.</p>
<p>"I would have expected you to be backstage getting ready for more of your songs. What are you doing out here?" Hibiki questioned curiously. Sonata looked away, remaining silent and just sighing in response. Hibiki took a moment to think about it before closing her eyes in understanding and walking up next to her. "The concert's giving you nerves, ain't it?" Hibiki asked in an understanding tone.</p>
<p>"I know I shouldn't be due to the others being very supportive, but it's just so daunting to fill Aoi's shoes." Sonata admitted as she shook a little.</p>
<p>"Still, I'm surprised that you've never experienced this as an idol before." Hibiki remarked.</p>
<p>"YOU ACT LIKE I HAVEN'T EXPERIENCED IT ALREADY!" Sonata exclaimed. Hibiki was taken aback at the outburst while Sonata covered her mouth. "I'm sorry, it's kind of a sensitive point for me. It's just… all this time ever since I became an idol, it feels like there are these expectations placed on me by my fans and my managers. It's not like I haven't brought this up with my managers and parents, but I always feel like I have to bottle it up." Sonata said as she gripped her forearms with a spooked look. Hibiki stayed silent for a moment before grabbing Sonata's hand and sighing.</p>
<p>"So you mind if I tell you a story that could make you feel at least a little better?" Hibiki questioned. Sonata simply nodded which made Hibiki smile a little bit. "When I was about 7 years old, I was a complete mess. Incredibly nervous about everything, very jittery, and just over all a very quiet and reserved kid. At some point, I had a pretty nasty break down myself which left me silent for like a week." Hibiki said, reminiscing a little.</p>
<p>"A week?" Sonata said, remembering her attitude earlier.</p>
<p>"Yeah, I really let my emotions take over me when I was younger. Anyway, the only reason I'm not like that now is because of the Symphogear anime. It might seem like a pretty mundane reason, but the show just sort of… clicked with me in a way." Hibiki said as she rubbed the back of her head.</p>
<p>"Huh, well that makes sense considering how much you seem to be enjoying the concert." Sonata said.</p>
<p>"Also, and I'm going to need you to promise me not to let anyone know about this, Hibiki isn't really my birth name." Hibiki said, a small blush appearing on her face.</p>
<p>"Really?" Sonata asked curiously.</p>
<p>"Yep, though I don't feel comfortable telling you my birth name." Hibiki told Sonata.</p>
<p>"That's… definitely not a story I expected to hear today. What made you change your name to Hibiki by the way?" Sonata said.</p>
<p>"Well, do I even need to say anything other that 'Even so!'" Hibiki answered.</p>
<p>"... He, her cheery personality really is infectious huh." Sonata said with a smile.</p>
<p>"Yep… so how do you feel now?" Hibiki asked curiously.</p>
<p>"Better, you do know how to talk to someone and calm them down." Sonata said happily.</p>
<p>"I always try, anyway let's get back to the theater." Hibiki told Sonata as she started to walk away. Sonata simply nodded as she too went back to the theater.</p><hr/>
<p>After arriving back at the room, Hibiki simply smiled as the lights dimmed and a few more songs played. As those songs we're playing, Melody looked at Hibiki and noted that she seemed way more upbeat than before. "<em>You look more pepy than usual.</em>" Melody commented mentally.</p>
<p>"<em>Yep, just got a bit of nervousness off of my chest and helped Sonata be a bit more motivated.</em>" Hibiki responded.</p>
<p>"Really?" Melody said.</p>
<p>"<em>She was having jittery about making sure she lived up to expectations. I helped make her feel at ease by telling her a bit about me.</em>" Hibiki told Melody.</p>
<p>"<em>Huh, that was awfully nice of you.</em>" Melody said.</p>
<p>"<em>I just don't want anyone to go through the same experiences as me.</em>" Hibiki said seriously. Melody was taken aback by Hibiki's sudden seriousness. Deciding to stay silent and leave her to herself for now, Melody turned back to the concert just as the next song ended. Almost immediately, Sonata came out on stage looking incredibly upbeat, making Melody smile. A song immediately started to play as Sonata pumped up the crowd and got ready to sing herself.</p>
<p>Song Name: Hanasaka Yuki by Aoi Yuuki (https://symphogear.fandom.com/wiki/Hanasaku_Y%C5%ABki)</p>
<p>
  <em>Masshōmen domannaka ni akiramezu butsukarunda</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Zenryoku zenkai de genkai (toppa shite)</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Tagai ni nigiru mono katachi no chigau seigi</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Dakedo (ima wa Brave) kasaneau toki da</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Shihai sare (kamishimeta) kuyashisa ni (aragatta)</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Sono kokoro tsutau ki ga shitanda (Wow×3)</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Kyokugen no (kyokugen no) omoi kometa tettsui</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Tomo ni, issho ni! Tokihanatō!</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>I trust! Hanasaku yūki (Shakin' hands)</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Nigiru dake ja nainda (Shakin' hands)</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Kobu (shi wo) hiraite tsunagitai…!</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>I believe! Hanasaku yūki (Shakin' hands)</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Shinnen wa tagae domo (Shakin' hands)</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Sā (ima) dareka no tame nara</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>"Dato shite mo!" to hoetate!</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Teki demo kataki demo nani ka no wake ga atte</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Ketsui wo kui shibari bukkomu (taigi wo)</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Ichigeki hitsuai ni zen mo naku aku mo naku</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Omoi (kakugo ga) tamashī ni kawaru</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Unmei no (haguruma ga) sukoshi dake (zuretetara)</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Tomo datta ki ga shitanda…zettai (Wow×3)</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Yuzurenai (yuzurenai) kōsa shita te to te ni</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Hoka no deai de naraba…to musebu</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>I trust! Dakedo hāto wa (Shakin' hands)</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Me ni mienai kizuna ga (Shakin' hands)</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Hana (sanai) kodō no duetto wa</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>I believe! Hikisakanai de (Shakin' hands)</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Shukumei wa tagae domo (Shakin' hands)</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Sā (ima) "naraba dōsuru ka…?"</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>"Dato shite mo!" no tsudzuki e!</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Te wo tsukami nigitte…to</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Kū wo kiru kanashimi no kotoba</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Zankoku wa sare warau yō ni</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Sore demo utai tsunage to…</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>I trust! Hanasaku yūki (Shakin' hands)</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Nigiru dake ja nainda (Shakin' hands)</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Kobu (shi wo) hiraite tsunagitai…!</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>I believe! Hanasaku yūki (Shakin' hands)</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Shinnen wa tagae domo (Shakin' hands)</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Sā (ima) mokuzen no ten ni</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>"Dato shite mo!" wo tsuranuke!</em>
</p>
<p>As the song ended, Sonata immediately waved to the crowd and left the stage for the next singer. "<em>Looks like whatever you told her worked.</em>" Melody told Hibiki.</p>
<p>"<em>Yeah.</em>" Hibiki said happily. The concert continued for another half hour, everyone in the stadium now cheering out of excitement. As the last Song ended, all the singers came out on stage, Sonata taking the center stage and bringing a mic to her mouth.</p>
<p>"Thank you everyone for coming here today! I'm sorry Aoi-san couldn't make it, but I hope I did good." Sonata said happily. The stadium immediately exploded into cheers, making Sonata smile. "It's very good to hear those cheers. Now then, this concert is over and the singers will be backstage, but I have an announcement to make right here." Sonata said.</p>
<p>"I wonder what she could have to say?" Echo said.</p>
<p>"To all Trainers taking the Gym Challenge, don't think I'm going to go easy on you all!" Sonata declared before looking at the box Hibiki was in. Hibiki immediately smiled and nodded before the Crowd erupted into cheers. "That's all I wanted to say, have a good evening everyone!" Sonata said before walking off the stage, the other singers following suit. Hibiki, Echo, and an invisible Melody exited their box and headed to go backstage.</p>
<p>"Think she's going to be serious tomorrow?" Echo questioned.</p>
<p>"Very much so." Hibiki said.</p>
<p>"<em>Agreed.</em>" Melody commented. Hibiki and Echo simply nodded at themselves before they headed backstage and spent the rest of the night hanging out with the singers.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Chapter 6</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Just wanted to make a quick note at the beginning, I am for the most part only going to be showing Hibiki's Pokemon Gym Battles. It's not like I'm only going to show her gym battles, but for the sake of getting this story's chapters out at a reasonable pace, only hers are going to be shown.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>Chapter 6: A Test of Skill! Hibiki vs Sonata!</strong>
</p>
<p>The next morning after the concert, there was a lot of buzz around the town. Lots of talk going around about how cool it was and gym challengers saying they'll be taking on Sonata today. As for Hibiki and Echo, they were both relaxing and marking stuff for shipment back home. "You definitely went a bit overboard sis." Echo told Hibiki as she saw her sister marking about a dosen packages</p>
<p>"Look, this is the one time that I have to get things that I like, let me have this." Hibiki said blissfully as she put a plush in a box. Echo was going to say something but quickly just sighed and went to the door.</p>
<p>"Just get done soon, remember what Sonata said last night?" Echo told her sister. Hibiki looked at Echo for a moment before remembering and closing the last box.</p>
<p>"Right… be there at 8." Hibiki said as she rubbed the back of her head with a nervous smile and looked to see that it was 7:35.</p>
<p>"... Your memory is hopeless sometimes, you know that?" Echo sighed as she opened the door. The two then left the room of their hotel and headed over to the gym to find that it was not very crowded. As they looked around, they saw Sonata calling them over to the side of the gym.</p>
<p>"Let's keep around the edges, don't want people to see us going in." Hibiki said. Echo simply nodded as they made their way to Sonata.</p>
<p>"Was wondering if you two would get here a bit early." Sonata said with a smile.</p>
<p>"Figured we would so we don't have to make the others wait for you. Especially with what you said at the end of the concert." Hibiki responded.</p>
<p>"Heh, I came up with that after talking with you. Come on, let's do this." Sonata told the two as she opened the door. The two entered the gym as Sonata closed the door behind them. Once inside, they saw that there was no one else there and the stadium was a basic ground stadium. "Ok, so since you're a special case, I want you to bring out your current team so we can find an even ground." Sonata questioned.</p>
<p>"Seems fair." Hibiki said as she brought out both Melody and Venemy. As Hibiki and Echo talked about what would be a good matchup and balance, Echo watched from a distance as she brought out her own team.</p>
<p>"I'm proud of my sis you know, just a bit weird to see this moment happening." Echo told her team, knowing she couldn't talk to them like with Melody. Ralts and Sewaddle looked at Echo and both simply hugged her legs. "Thanks you two, I appreciate it." Echo said as she leaned down and picked the both of them up. As she looked at Ralts, she thought back to yesterday and wanted to try something. Taking a deep breath she closed her eyes and focused on Ralts, who looked confused for a moment before realizing what she was doing. Ralts hugged Echo as a psychic link formed between them.</p>
<p>"<em>...Hello?</em>" Ralts called out.</p>
<p>"Hey, my idea worked." Echo said happily.</p>
<p>"<em>Echo… Trainer…</em>" Ralts responded happily.</p>
<p>"Still learning how to speak… fair enough." Echo said with a smile. Seawadle saw this interaction and bit at Echo to get her attention. "Ah right. Now to try for you little guy." Echo told Seawaddle. Echo did the same with Sewaddle, taking it a bit slower since he was not a psychic type.</p>
<p>"<em>Hello?</em>" Sewaddle tested once the link was formed.</p>
<p>"Glad that worked." Echo said as she sat down in the stands, exhausted from the psychic links.</p>
<p>"<em>Are you ok?</em>" Sewaddle asked, a little concerned.</p>
<p>"Yeah… just a bit exhausted from using all of that energy to link with you two." Echo said as she panted a little and put the two on her lap.</p>
<p>"<em>Happy…</em>" Ralts said as he hugged Echo.</p>
<p>"Yeah Ralts, I am happy. ...Do you two want names?" Echo said as she looked at them. The two Pokemon looked at each other before looking back at Echo. "I'm only asking because my sis does it for all of her stuff, so she was ready for her pokemon, but I never really thought about it till now." Echo explained, a slight blush appearing on her face.</p>
<p>"<em>It's fine, you can come up with names later or even ask your sister help.</em>" Sewaddle told Echo, who simply smiled in response. As the three continued to talk, Hibiki looked over and smiled.</p>
<p>"Looks like your sister did something." Sonata commented.</p>
<p>'Yep, I'll have to ask her about it later. Anyway, the team we discussed is fine with you?" Hibiki responded.</p>
<p>"Yep, it's a good one. One of my being team a low level for your Venipede and one from about the midpoint for Meloetta." Sonata reiterated. Hibiki nodded as Sonata walked to the back room to grab the pokemon.</p>
<p>"<em>So… this isn't going to be a simple fight for me.</em>" Melody told Hibiki.</p>
<p>"Sorry but I figured you would want a challenge." Hibiki said as she returned Venemy to his Pokeball.</p>
<p>"<em>It's fine, but I'm starting to think I bit off more than I can chew.</em>" Melody said, a hint of nervousness in her voice.</p>
<p>"Don't worry too much about it, you should know that I'm fairly competent when it comes to battles." Hibiki said with a confident smile. Melody simply sighed as Sonata entered the room with two pokeballs on her hip and a determined look on her face.</p>
<p>"You ready?" Sonata questioned as she walked to her side of the battlefield. Hibiki nodded as she and Melody did the same before coming to a stop at her position. "Now before we continue, you know that I have to activate the judge system right?" Sonata said. Hibiki looked at Sonata for a moment before face palming and sighing.</p>
<p>"<em>Judge system?</em>" Melody asked.</p>
<p>"Basically it's a system that is used for judging matches… and it registers the challenger into the system." Hibiki explained.</p>
<p>"It's fine in this instance, Anabel gave me a special judge system. It'll send the info to the IPP Regional Headquarters in the capital." Sonata explained. Hibiki looked at Melody who just sighed and nodded before giving Sonata a thumbs up. Sonata nodded before she got out a remote and pressed a button on it. Within a few seconds, a yellow drone flew above the stadium and scanned Hibiki.</p>
<p>"Challenger Registered… Sending data to Officer Anabel." the drone said.</p>
<p>"And there we go." Sonata said, letting out a small sigh of relief.</p>
<p>"Ok, fair enough. Now then Sonata, what do you say we get started?" Hibiki declared. Sonata simply smiled back as the drone hovered over the arena.</p>
<p>"This battle will be between Challenger Hibiki and Gym Leader Sonata. The first to eliminate each other's team of two Pokemon wins." the drone said.</p>
<p>"Don't expect me to go easy on you after yesterday. I'm giving you my all as a gym leader." Sonata said confidently as she got out a pokeball.</p>
<p>"I wouldn't have it any other way." Hibiki responded as she did the same.</p>
<p>"Let the match begin!" the drone declared as it flew into the sky.</p>
<hr/>
<p>"Come out Aipom!" Sonata said as she called out her Pokemon, which appeared in front of her.</p>
<p>"Let's do this Venemy!" Hibiki yelled as she did the same. Both Aipom and Venemy looked at each other, waiting for their trainer's orders before Aipm dashed.</p>
<p>"Aipom, use Slam." Sonata ordered as Aipom leaped into the air towards Venemy.</p>
<p>"Defense Curl now!" Venemy rolled into a ball as tight as it could before Aipom hit it. When Aipom impacted Venemy, he was pushed back a little but otherwise fine. "Poison Sting!" Venemy quickly uncurled before launching a barrage stingers towards Aipom, who couldn't dodge them in time and got hit.</p>
<p>"Aipom!" Sonata called out. Aipom simply shrugged the attack off and smiled in anticipation. "Alright then, use Agility!" Sonata ordered. Aipom proceeded to dash towards Venemy at increasing speed.</p>
<p>"Ho boy, this is going to be trouble." Hibiki said to herself.</p>
<p>"Scratch now!" Sonata said. Aipom immediately scratched Venemy, who instinctively went into a defensive position just before getting hit. "Don't let up! Keep putting the pressure on!" Sonata yelled. Aipom nodded before it continued to do run-by Scratches on Venemy. Hibiki took a moment to analyze the situation before she smiled with a glint of inspiration in her eyes.</p>
<p>"Venemy, use Rollout and spin in place!" Hibiki said. Venemy took a moment to process that instruction before understanding it and executing it. Aipom, who was going in for another hit, couldn't stop in time and was hit back by Venemy. "That's good, keep it up!" Hibiki said. As Venemy kept spinning in place, a small cloud of dust was created.</p>
<p>"Aipom, don't get intimidated. Use Double-Edge now!" Sonata shouted. Aipom nodded before dashing towards the spinning Venemy. As Aipom went through the dust cloud, it did see that Venemy kept spinning in place which made it stop. "Still spinning is it? Alright then, use Bounce!"" Aipom nodded before jumping up high into the air.</p>
<p>"Oh boy that's not good…" Hibiki said to herself. As Aipom descended, Venemy was still spinning, waiting for a signal from Hibiki. "Now!" Venemy immediately tipped on its side a tiny bit which caused it to spin outwards as Aipom nearly hit him. Aipom shook itself off a bit as it looked and saw Venemy spinning in a circle, as he kept speeding up.</p>
<p>"That's some Rollout, but don't back down! Agility now and use Double edge when you!" Sonata ordered. Aipom nodded before dasing to catch up to Venemy.</p>
<p>"Don't let him catch up!" Hibiki said. Venemy simply sped up faster as it dodged the attacks from Aipom.</p>
<p>"Get ahead of it and get ready to use Counter!" Aipom nodded as he dashed forward and waited for Venemy. As Venemy got closer, Hibiki simply nodded as Venemy charged forward toward Aipom. Venemy's tail then proceeded to glow purple as it sped up. Seeing this, Aipom took a defensive stance as it got ready to take the brunt of the attack.</p>
<p>"Now, Poison Tail!" Just as Venemy reached Aipom, it uncurled out of it's spin and delivered a strong tail slap. Aipom, after getting hit, delivered a counter to Venemy, resulting in the both of them getting knocked back.</p>
<p>"Venemy!/ Aipom!" the two trainers called out to their pokemon. As both Pokemon landed, Hibiki and Sonata ran up to them to check on them, finding that both were knocked out.</p>
<p>"Both Pokemon are unable to battle." the drone said above them.</p>
<p>"Sorry about pushing you hard Venemy, get some rest." Storm said as she returned Venemy to his Pokeball. Sonata did the same to Aipom before they both walked back to their places.</p>
<p>"You really are an interesting trainer. Didn't expect that strategy." Sonata told Hibiki.</p>
<p>"Well, I had to get a bit creative for this fight." HIbiki said proudly.</p>
<p>"I'm impressed, but that doesn't mean I'm backing down easily." Sonata said as she got out a Great Ball. Hibiki simply nodded as she looked at Melody.</p>
<p>"You ready?" Hibiki asked. Melody simply nodded before floating ahead onto the field.</p>
<p>"... To think I would battle against a Mythical Pokemon, it's an honor and a fight that I don't intend to make easy. Come on out Wigglytuff!" Sonata said as she threw the Great Ball. From the Great Ball came a Wigglytuff that starred in wonder at Melody.</p>
<p>"<em>Well, this just got a bit more complicated. Your Pirouette form will work, but it'll be a risk depending on what Wigglytuff knows.</em>" Hibiki told Melody mentally.</p>
<p>"<em>I know that and I'm counting on you to direct me with your crazy plans. You know all the moves that I know how to do, I'm leaving this up to you.</em>" Melody responded. Hibiki nodded as she focused on the Pokemon ahead of her. After a moment of silence, Sonata got a serious look on her face.</p>
<p>"Wigglytuff, set up a Light Screen and Reflect!" Sonata said. Wigglytuff nodded as she started to create two barriers around her.</p>
<p>"Don't even think about it! Melody, Quick Attack!" Melody simply nodded before dashing in and landing a hit on Wigglytuff, who didn't flinch as the barrier formed around her. "Ok… that is a tough Pokemon." Hibiki said to herself.</p>
<p>"Now, Body Slam!" Wigglytuff nodded before jumping up and aiming at where Melody was. Melody quickly dodged out of the way as Wigglytuff impacted the ground, causing a small dust cloud. "Thunder Wave, Now!" A wave of paralyzing electricity emanated from the dust cloud and managed to catch Melody in it, causing her to be paralyzed.</p>
<p>"Melody!" Hibiki called out.</p>
<p>"I knew that Meloetta would be speedy, so I figured this would be the best way to take it down a notch." Sonata said with a smile. Melody looked at Sonata with a small grimace, though she did think otherwise.</p>
<p>"<em>Looks like this is going to be more of a challenge than I thought. I'll work with this for now, just work with this.</em>" Melody told Hibiki. Hibiki simply nodded before she turned back to Wigglytuff.</p>
<p>"Wigglytuff, use Echoed Voice!" Wigglytuff let out a loud voice that Melody heard and endured, taking some damage from the attack. Hibiki took a moment to think about a solution before deciding on at least a temporary strategy.</p>
<p>"Melody, use Calm Mind!" Melody simply nodded as she struggled to concentrate and calm herself through her paralyzed body.</p>
<p>"Don't give them an inch! Use Rollout." Wigglytuff then jumped in the air before curling into a ball and charging.</p>
<p>"I kind of asked for this. Melody, do your best to dodge!" Hibiki said. Melody nodded, abandoning her endeavor and focussing on dodging. As she saw the Wigglytiff charging towards her, she managed to get her body to respond long enough to be able to jump over it, barely feeling the ears on her back before she landed. The Wigglytuff took some time to turn around and come around for another attempt, which Melody attempted to dodge but she felt her body tense up.</p>
<p>"Now, Giga Impact!" Wigglytuff, still in a ball from using Rollout, jumped in the air and was surrounded by a purple aura. Melody felt her body loosen up a bit just in time to get hit by the Giga Impact and get launched a few feet away.</p>
<p>"MELODY!" Hibiki exclaimed, worried that she might have fainted. Melody was still for a moment before she got up with a bit of struggle, her body now covered in bruises.</p>
<p>"<em>Ok, obviously I didn't think I would have this much trouble. Any ideas?</em>" Melody asked. Hibiki was quiet for a moment as Wigglytuff took a moment to recover herself.</p>
<p>"<em>I have a crazy idea, but I'm not sure it would work or if you want to go through with it."</em> Hibiki responded. Melody simply nodded, signalling she was good for just about anything. "<em>Is there any way that we could share our senses?</em>" Hibiki questioned.</p>
<p>"<em>... It's possible, but I don't think that would help with the paralysis. Plus it does have the drawback of some of the more intense pain being transmitted back to you. </em>" Melody answered, feeling her nerves tingling a bit.</p>
<p>"<em>True, but who said we had to cure the paralysis? More stimulus and better recognition should offset the slowness. The pain shouldn't do much to me, I've had worse happen to me before.</em>" Hibiki responded.</p>
<p>"<em>Well… it's worth a shot at least. Just giving you a warning now, this is going to feel weird.</em>" Melody told Hibiki. Hibiki simply nodded before she felt a sensation in her mind and more stimulus than she was used to.</p>
<p>"<em>... Wow, that is weird.</em>" Hibiki thought as she adjusted to the new senses. As Melody looked around and got used to those senses as well, she noticed that Wigglytuff had recovered and was currently rolling towards Melody. Thinking fast Melody dodged out of the way,incredibly surprised at how much more she could sense. Using the new senses, she launched a green ball towards Wigglytuff causing her to unroll when it hit.</p>
<p>"<em>Ok, this is actually working.</em>" Melody thought before she felt the paralysis take hold once more.</p>
<p>"Wigglytuff, use Dig now!" Wigglytuff nodded before digging down into the ground. Melody recovered from the paralysis and looked around ready for her to pop back up. Closing her eyes for a moment, she focused as she waited. She then quickly opened them before jumping to the side, evading Wigglytuff's attack.</p>
<p>"Relic Song, now!" Melody nodded before closing her eyes and sang her song, producing a barrier around her as she changed to her Pirouette form. "Don't back down, use Drain Punch!" Melody nodded as she dashed forward and delivered a punch to Wigglytuff, which did get blocked a bit by the barriers in place, but still pushed back it a bit.</p>
<p>"Took you long enough. Disarming Voice Now!" Wigglytuff then let out a loud, grating voice that Meloetta really didn't like as she covered her ears. Hibiki, having her senses connected to Melody, felt a sharp sense of pain in her head, but it was nothing she wasn't used to before.</p>
<p>"Work Up Now!" Melody nodded as she focused and fought through the paralysis, feeling her body getting stronger. Hibiki nodded as she closed her eyes and just listened, hearing various things before taking note of a strange sound she had heard. <em>"Letting your ears do the talking huh? Fine then, I'll try that out as well.</em>" Melody thought as she closed her eyes as well.</p>
<p>"I don't know what you're planning, but we won't let that happen. Disarming Voice once more!" Wigglytuff let the attack go once more, Making both Melody and Hibiki wince in pain, but they remained focused. "All right, we're ending this now. Dazzling Gleam!" Wigglytuff ran forward a bit and let out a dazzling light in front of Melody. As she did that though, Melody and Hibiki's eyes snapped open and Melody jumped in the air, dodging the move.</p>
<p>"Let's Go! Use Brick Break!" Melody nodded as she landed and landed an elbow shot that shattered the two barriers surrounding Wigglytuff. "End this with Focus Blast!" Melody complied as she put one hand on Wigglytuff before sending a point blank blast at it, causing Wigglytuff to get knocked away. Once she landed on the ground, Sonata saw that Wigglytuff had fainted from that last attack and let a small smile form on her face.</p>
<p>"Wigglytuff is unable to battle! The winner is Challenger Storm!" the drone above said as Melody panted in exhaustion.</p>
<hr/>
<p>"We won…" Hibiki said as the realization set in. Hibiki then smiled as she jumped up and down in joy as Melody walked over, occasionally stopping because of the paralysis. Feeling the paralysis in her mind, Hibiki quickly ran over and got out a Paralyze Heal to heal Melody with as well as her badge case for her first gym badge. "Sorry about that, the excitement got to me a bit. You did awesome out there." Hibiki said with a big smile.</p>
<p>"<em>Don't sell yourself short in this victory. After all, your quick thinking was what won it for us, even if it was a bit risky.</em>" Melody said as she moved around before floating up to Hibiki's right shoulder.</p>
<p>"<em>By the way, you should probably get rid of that connection so we don't get sensory overload or something along those lines.</em>" Hibiki told Melody. Melody nodded before she cut the connection between the two, returning their senses to normal. Hibik was going to say something until she heard footsteps behind her. Turning around, she saw Echo and her team walking up to her before she patted her free shoulder.</p>
<p>"You did really well out there sis. I'm really surprised at how well you did." Echo said with a big smile as she nodded.</p>
<p>"I would have to agree on this, the way your Meloetta moved was amazing. Thought I had a good strategy set, but you sure showed me." Sonata said with a smile as she walked up to Hibiki. Hibiki turned and saw Sonata extend a hand out to her, opening it to reveal a gym badge in the shape of two music notes. "Here, the Symphony Badge. You've earned it." Sonata said in a proud tone. Hibiki grabbed the badge and looked at it before placing it in her badge case.</p>
<p>"The first of eight… wow this feels weird to have this moment." Hibiki said.</p>
<p>"As a gym leader, I can certainly say that was one of the most interesting battles I had. As a friend, if you'll consider me one, don't think that I won't challenge you again at some point." Sonata said with a smile, extending an open hand. Hibiki, a bit taken aback by the statement, stared at Sonata's hand for a moment before she quickly shook it as her face turned beet red.</p>
<p>"<em>Wow, I had a feeling you were a reserved person, but I didn't think you were this reserved.</em>" Melody told Hibiki.</p>
<p>"Anyway, let's get Echo's battle out of the way, so I can open." Sonata said as she walked over to a console nearby. Hibiki and Echo nodded as they walked off the field, Hibiki grabbing a rock as she did. Sonata then pressed a button when the field was clear of people and the field immediately started to be cleared of debris as it turned back to it's pre-battle state, a regenerative field filling in all the holes and craters.</p>
<p>"So this is the restoration field that they developed for Pokemon Arenas. I have to say that this is impressive considering how much it's used around the region." Echo said aloud. Hibiki nodded as she closed her eyes and listened for something. A few seconds after the field was restored, Hibiki heard what she was looking for and tossed the rock she picked up in its general direction, close to the ceiling. Immediately after she threw the rock, she heard it hit her target before hearing it hit the ground.</p>
<p>"What was that?" Echo and Sonata asked at the same time as Hibiki walked to where the object had landed. When she reached the area, she leaned down and picked up a now broken drone with a camera on it.</p>
<p>"Looks like we had a little spectator watching our match." Hibiki said as she held the drone up for the others to see.</p>
<p>"A drone? Where was that and why?" Sonata asked, a hint of concern as she looked at the destroyed drone.</p>
<p>"It was up near the ceiling and if I had to take a guess at the why, I would hazard a guess that it would be the people looking for Melody." Hibiki said as she handed the drone to Echo. Echo took a cursory glance at it before looking at Hibiki.</p>
<p>"I can tell you right now that this was being streamed live to whoever sent this judging by the parts used." Echo told Hibiki.</p>
<p>"So whoever this belonged to knows that I own Melody… that's not the greatest news." Hibiki sighed.</p>
<p>"... Well you two are heading to Alaria City after this right?" Sonata asked. The two nodded which made Sonata give a relieved smile. "Then I would immediately head to the International Pokemon Police Headquarters when you get there. I see no reason they would turn you away." Sonata said with a small smile.</p>
<p>"You make a good point." Hibiki said as Melody floated around the drone. Echo simply nodded in agreement as she gave the drone back to Hibiki.</p>
<p>"Good, now don't worry too much about this discovery, you've got enough on your mind as it is." Sonata said with a smile. Hibiki simply nodded before she went back to the spectator stands.</p>
<p>"<em>You think they found out?</em>" Melody asked, a hint of concern in her mental voice.</p>
<p>"It was either them or some other group. I'm pretty sure that it's that group after you though." Hibiki said as she inspected the drone. As she did, she noticed a symbol on the back of the camera. Taking a closer look, she saw that the symbol looked like a "C" enveloped by a shadowy aura.</p>
<p>"<em>Any idea what this could mean?</em>" Melody said, also taking notice of the symbol. Hibiki took a moment to think about it before shaking her head in response. "<em>All right then, let's keep this in the back of our mind. For right now though, I want to see how your sister does.</em>" Melody responded with a smile.</p>
<p>"Agreed." Hibiki said with a smile as she sat down. The two proceeded to watch as Echo's Gym Battle had started.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Chapter 7</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>So before we begin this chapter, I just want to say that my father did while I was in the middle of writing this. That might make one part of this chapter seem really weird, but I put it in there cause I felt like I should, even if it’s using different characters. Also, I got a bit impatient towards the end of this chapter so you will definitely know who the main antagonists are for this story. While I won’t say it explicitly, the character I’m describing definitely will be a big clue/ tell you exactly who I’m using. With that though… enjoy the chapter.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <b>Chapter 7: Alaria City and Memorium</b>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>About an hour after Echo had done her Gym battle, the two were sitting at a cafe eating some food, getting ready to head out to Alaria City. “So what is the plan from here?” Echo asked her sister as she polished her badge. Hibiki took a moment before she brought up the regional map on her phone.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Well, we can head to Alaria City and head to the IPP Headquarters there to let Anabel know what we found and see.” Hibiki said in a slightly oblivious tone.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“No, I mean after that. I’m curious what gym you want to do next.” Echo told her sister. Hibiki put a hand to her chin as she considered the question.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“For sure not the Steel Gym, that one seems like it will suck at the moment. We also could head to the Fairy Gym or wait for the Dark Gym Leader to return. I was thinking something different however.” Hibiki said as she looked on the map. Going through the list of gyms mentally mentally in her mind, Echo nodded before looking at Hibiki.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“So either the Grass Gym or the Ice Gym?” Echo asked curiously as she ate some more food.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“I would say Grass, our teams are better suited for it.” Hibiki told Echo with a smile.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Are you sure you’re not just saying that to get it out of the way early?” Echo said teasingly. Hibiki gave a murderous glare at her sister before sighing and nodding yes. “That’s fine with me then, I personally don’t want to be on a boat any longer than necessary.” Echo said, rubbing her head a bit and giving an awkward laugh.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Well at least we’re both in the same mindset.” Hibiki said as she smuggly took a sip of her drink.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“...Hey, have you tried to contact Anabel?” Echo questioned. Hibiki went quiet for a moment before nodding no and getting out the card. “May as well do that right now and let her know before we head out.” Echo said. As she said that, Hibiki was already dialing the number in her phone and calling Anabel. After a few seconds and ringing, the phone was answered.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Hello?” Anabel answered from the other end.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Hello Anabel, it’s Hibiki.” Hibiki responded.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Ah Hibiki, funny enough I was about to call you myself regarding Melody.” Anabel told Hibiki.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Really? What for?” Hibiki asked.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Well, a... </span>
  <em>
    <span>colleague</span>
  </em>
  <span> of mine would like to speak to you as soon as possible about Melody. Don’t worry, it’s nothing bad, he just has a proposition for the both of you.” Anabel told Hibiki in a cheery tone.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“That’s very interesting, any information as to what this is going to be about?” Hibiki asked curiously.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“All I can say is that it’s something you might like. Enough about what I have to say though, why did you decide to call me out of curiosity?” Anabel responded.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Well… it’s about something I found during my gym battle and probably has to do with Melody.” Hibiki began to explain. After explaining what she had found, she heard Anabel give a deep sigh.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Ok, thanks for letting me know about that. God, this is already getting complicated.” Anabel sighed over the phone.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah… what should we do?” Hibiki questioned.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“What I would recommend you do is get to the city as soon as possible. While we could see you as soon as you get here, I think it would be good to hold off til our meeting at 1:15. There’s a bit of risk in waiting, but it’s better so we can all talk about it and come up with at least something.” Anabel explained.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“That sounds like a good plan, at least it’s something we can do.” Hibiki said with a sigh.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Got it, I’ll let my friend know and we can go from there. See you then.” Anabel said before she hung up. Hibiki put down her phone as she looked at Echo, who was waiting for her to speak.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Well I let her know and she told me that we should head to the city as soon as possible.” Hibiki said as she proceeded to get up.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Got it, and what was that about a meeting I heard?” Echo responded as she finished off her food.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“We’ve got a meeting in about 5 hours with Anabel, says she’s got a colleague that wants to meet with us.” Hibiki explained, checking the time and .</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Interesting, well I would advise caution with this meeting. Even if it is the PII and they are trustworthy, I would advise caution because you never know.” Echo cautioned.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Huh, weird to hear you say that. Like I completely understand why you’re saying that, but at least have a bit more faith in them.” Hibiki said.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“You’re probably right, but that camera drone has me nervous.” Echo admitted. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah I understand that.” Hibiki said as she hugged and comforted her sister. Echo nodded after being consoled and looked at her sister with a smile.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Thanks for the hug, sorry about bringing the mood down.” Echo said in an apologetic voice.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“It’s cool. Now come on, we have to get going early.” Hibiki said happily and with a smile. Echo simply nodded as they both headed off to the next route.</span>
</p>
<hr/>
<p>
  <span>As they walked along Route 002, Hibiki, Echo, and Melody were talking a little bit about various things and letting Melody know about what Anabel had told them. “Interesting, well this is certainly a development that I’ll need to think about.” Melody said.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah, and it would be for the best. I just have a feeling that our journey is about to get a lot more complicated.” Hibiki said with a sigh.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“By the way Melody, I’ve been meaning to ask you something. Are you originally from Alaria or did you migrate here from another region?” Echo asked.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>I originate from here, though I can see why you ask that. While there are several regions my species have been spotted in, I personally have lived here all my life, but I have not really interacted with the human world much at all.</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Melody told Echo.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“How much do you know about the region now that I think about it? Apologies if I did ask you this question before, I kind of forgot.” Hibiki questioned, rubbing the back of her head.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>It’s fine, truth be told, aside from what you two have explained to me, I don’t know much other than the technology of the region being very advanced and the very faint presence of electromagnetic fields.</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Melody said.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Might as well take the time to inform you about the region. What do you want to start off by talking about?” Echo questioned, a bit of anticipation in her voice.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Well, why not start the technology of the region.</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Melody said as Hibiki walked forward a bit.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“A good place to start. Well like you said, the technology of Alaria is very advanced, the most advanced of any region in the world in fact. This has led to a lot of trade with other regions, most often asking for some of the advanced tech made here.” Echo began to explain.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>I take it that all the different technologies are what causes the EM field around the region?</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Melody questioned.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Maybe? It hasn’t really explored why the EM field is produced, some researchers that have tried haven’t been able to pinpoint an answer. Most say that it’s the amount of technology and electricity we use is what generates the field, but a few say that there’s an unknown Legendary Pokemon causing it.” Echo explained.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Interesting, I guess one less question I should probably ask is why is the Capital of the region named after the Region?</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Melody said.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“...Ok that one I don’t know much about other than it’s actually the other way around, the region being named after the city. I’m not that big of a history buff, but I can probably look up why it’s called that later.” Echo admitted, rubbing the back of her head sheepishly. Melody simply chuckled as she floated up to Hibiki, who had walked a bit ahead of them in a bit of a trance.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>You ok Hibiki?</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Melody asked.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Huh? Yeah… I’m fine. Just thinking about some stuff I’m not comfortable talking about.” Hibiki said in an upset tone. Melody raised an eyebrow at Echo who just rubbed the back of her head with a frown that made Melody sigh.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Fair enough, I’ll leave you to your thoughts then. Just… know that I’m here if you need to talk.</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Melody said awkwardly. Hibiki perked up when Melody said that and gave a small smile to her partner.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Well, looks like she’s in good hands at least. Thanks Melody, I appreciate it.</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Echo told Melody mentally.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>It’s a Pokemon’s job to look after their trainer and give them comfort. A little weird for me to say, especially considering that I am a Pokemon, but I feel it’s the least I could do for Hibiki after she took me with her.</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Melody told Echo. Echo simply nodded as the group continued on to Alaria City.</span>
</p>
<hr/>
<p>
  <span>After the group had finished walking the route, they entered Alaria City and were taken aback by the splendor of it. The capital was vast, having several high rise buildings and skyscrapers, several holographic signs hovering in the air, people wearing AR gloves and special visors, and a few holograms standing outside of buildings. “Given that you both have some amazement on your faces, I take it that neither of you have been here in person before?” Melody asked, now invisible to everyone. The two simply nodded as they basked in the glory of the capital.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“You know, I knew this would be an interesting first visit. I didn’t think that it would look this splendorous in person.” Hibiki said as she regained her senses.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah…” Echo said as she looked at the AR Gloves she was wearing.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh yeah, you haven’t gotten a chance to try those out yet have you?” Hibiki asked as she glanced at her sister’s gloves.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“I’ve used them a little, but I think I want to mess around with them a bit if that’s fine with you.” Echo told her sister.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“That’s totally fine with me, we have about 2 hours before our meeting anyway.” Hibiki said with a small smile. Echo simply nodded with enthusiasm before she began to walk off and remembered to ask her sister something.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“What are you going to be doing?” Echo called.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“I think I’m going to just… look around some music stores.” Hibiki said, pausing to choose her words carefully. Echo stopped walking and turned back to her sister and saw a look of nostalgia in her eyes before turning to where she thinks Melody is.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Keep an eye on her, she’s probably going to need you.</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Echo mentally said. Melody simply nodded before Echo started to walk away into the city. Hibiki stood still for a moment before sighing and heading into the capitol, Melody following her. As they traveled through the city, Melody noted all the different technology that she saw and was a bit amazed by how much was packed in this one city.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>So, where are you going to head to if you don’t mind me asking?</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Melody said.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“A place I’ve been meaning to go to for a while.” Hibiki responded aloud. Melody noted the hint of sadness in Hibiki’s tone as they continued on. After a few minutes of walking, Hibiki stopped in front of one of the stores called ‘The Vocal Lounge’ and put on the goggles that her mom had given her along with a pair of headphones. “</span>
  <em>
    <span>I’m going to put on some AR stuff for myself, so you should probably connect your senses to mine. I would recommend waiting though, I got something I need to take care of first.</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Hibiki told Melody as she switched the goggles to their AR Mode. Melody nodded and did as she said, curious to see what was AR in this store. Hibiki took a deep breath, shaking off some anxiety she had and went into the store.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Welcome to the Vocal Lounge!” a voice said to Hibiki’s right. Turning to her right, she saw a person standing behind the counter. The person was a woman in her early 30s wearing an outfit that had the logo of the store on it on a white shirt with a name tag that said Note, black jeans and a pair of AR Glasses.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Hello…” Hibiki said awkwardly as she looked around. The store was full of various shelves of music disks, AR stands with different holograms, and a few sound booths all around.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Is there anything I can help you with today?” Note asked.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Um… well I was kind of curious if someone named Sympia ever visited this store?” Hibiki questioned. The clerk was silent for a moment before remembering the name and looking at her.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Yes I do… you wouldn’t happen to be a relative of hers, would you?” Note responded.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“...Granddaughter.” Hibiki said simply, looking down at the counter.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“I see… come on then.” Note said somberly as she walked towards a door on the far wall of the store. Hibiki followed with Melody close behind, already getting an understanding of why she was here. Note got out a keycard, swiped it over the reader, and opened the door for Hibiki who entered. “Take as long as you need.” Note said before she closed the door behind Hibiki. Once inside, Hibiki felt her breath catch in her throat as she stood in front of a memorial. The memorial had a picture in the center and was surrounded by various flowers, Music CDs,and some incense. The picture was of a woman in her late 50s with dark blue hair, white skin, and purple eyes  and was labeled “</span>
  <em>
    <span>Symphia Eversong: A renowned Musician and amazing Champion</span>
  </em>
  <span>”.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“...Hey Grandma.” Hibiki choked out, sadness and nervousness very clear in her voice. Melody appeared again now that they were alone and just looked on as she felt a sense of familiarity. Hibiki slowly walked up to the memorial and kneeled down in front of it. “I just thought I would come here and check up on you.” Hibiki said.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Wow… didn’t think I was going to be feeling this today.</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Melody thought to herself, deciding to respect Hibiki’s space for the moment.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“So Echo and I started on my League attempt this week and I’m pretty nervous to actually be on it. I got my first badge, though I will say that it was mostly thanks to my partner.” HIbiki said as she looked over her shoulder. Melody, taking the cue, became visible and carefully floated at eye level with the picture before bowing midair out of respect. “Yeah… let’s just say that some things happened and Melody here is my partner now. Let’s just say that thing happened… but it’s totally ok, we make a good team as we found out.” Hibiki said as she rubbed the back of her head. The two stayed for a few minutes, Hibiki saying a few things that had happened over the past few days, before leaving the room with tears streaming down both of their faces, thought Melody was invisible again.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m sorry if that was hard for you, I can’t even imagine how it must feel.” Note said from behind the counter.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“It’s fine, I’ve been meaning to come here for a while anyway.” Hibiki said in a somewhat hoarse voice.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Well if you ever want to come back, I’ll let the other workers here know. I’m at least grateful that your mom contacted the store to let us know that her daughters were coming.” Note said with a smile.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“I figured she would.” Hibiki said before going to look at some of the music in the store. As she looked at the music, Melody floated a bit away as she reminisced on what she just experienced.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>So that was Hibiki’s grandmother… I can see why she wanted to come here. Still, why does being in there feel familiar to me?</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Melody said as she linked her sneses with Hibiki’s and floated around the store. Melody noted that there were a lot of AR displays showing various logos of companies, holograms in promotional outfits, and various other things. As she kept an eye on Hibiki, she quickly noticed her attitude had quickly changed as she was looking through the various music.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Are you looking for anything in particular?” Note asked Hibiki, also noticing her happier attitude.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“I listen to all kinds of music, though I listen to a lot of calming music and anime music.”  Hibiki said as she picked up a few songs that caught her eye. Note nodded as she went and helped Hibiki with picking out some music. Melody smiled, both because she was happy and for the new music that she could try. After a few minutes, Hibiki was at the counter paying for her haul.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“You know, I don’t think I ever got your name.” Note commented.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh, it’s Hibiki. Hibiki Eversong. You’re really friendly, you know that?” Hibiki said with a smile.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m no one special, just someone who helps run this shop.” Note said as she gave Hibiki a bag.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Speaking of, I haven’t really seen people come to this store.” Hibiki commented as she saw no one else in the store.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“This place really doesn't see much business. Only people that come here are those that come to pay respects and for the occasional shoppers.” Note said.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Well I can safely say that I am going to be a regular here. I hope to see you again whenever I stop by Note.” Hibiki said as she grabbed the bag and started to walk out the store.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“It’ll be a pleasure to see you then. Have a good day.” Note said as she waved Hibiki off. Hibiki left the store and sighed happily as she put the music disks away in her backpack.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>So you ready to meet up with Echo?</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Melody asked. Hibiki was about to respond before she felt something off about the area. “</span>
  <em>
    <span>You noticed it too then?</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Melody said, seeing Hibiki react.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah, how long ago did you notice it?” Hibiki responded as she started to walk away from the store.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>I noticed it right before we entered the store, but I said nothing cause they seemed to be keeping their distance.</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Melody responded. Hibiki took a glance behind her to see if she could find who Melody was talking about and it was not hard to see the person in question. The person looked to be wearing a very unique outfit that didn’t seem to be Alarian and looked to be following her.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Think we should put some distance between us?” Hibiki said as she looked around and started to walk.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Yep, though I would advise to maybe try and talk to him. I don’t sense any foul intent from him.</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Melody told Hibiki. Hibiki took a moment to process that suggestion in mind and looked to make sure that the man in question was indeed following them. After confirming that he was, though at a noticeable distance, Hibiki got out her phone and called Echo.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Hey sis, so what are you doing right now?” Echo asked.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Not much, just got out of a music shop. What about you?” Hibiki said as she led the man to a relatively safe area. Almost immediately she heard the sounds of arcade games in the background. “...Why am I not surprised?” Hibiki responded as she rolled her eyes.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“You know me too well. By the way… did you go to the store mom told us about?” Echo asked awkwardly.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah…” Hibiki said.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“...Send me the location, I’ll head there in a bit.” Echo said.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“You do that, I’m sure she would like to see you. As for me… let’s just say things are going to get a bit complicated.” Hibiki said as walked into a park.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Got it… you’re being followed by someone aren’t you?” Echo responded.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“...How?” Hibiki questioned simply, a bit bewildered that her sister had guessed correctly.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“I know you too well… and I connected my senses to yours before I took off.” Echo said smugly. Hibiki fumed a little before sitting on a nearby bench and waiting. “Well I’ll just leave you too it since you seem to have at least some plan.” Melody said as she hung up. Hibiki put away her phone and took off her headphones, hearing a snickering from Melody.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Not. A. Word.</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Hibiki said mentally, a bit ticked off and impressed at Echo. After a few seconds of waiting, a man sat on the bench next to Hibiki. Now getting a closer look at the man, he looked to be about 6’1 in his late 40s, wearing an black open chest jacket, black pants, dark blue shoes, sunglasses, and had an afro that looked like a Pokeball.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Well, I see you noticed me. Why did you stop if you knew I was following you?” the man asked simply, a suave tone in his voice.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“... Just a feeling that you meant no harm to me, a bit of a gamble on my part.” Hibiki responded calmly, seeing how much this man knew.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Interesting, now I see why that Meloetta chose you.” the man said, a small smile appearing on his face. Hibiki gripped her the back of the bench tight as Melody got close to him. “Now now, I’m not here to hurt you.” the man said.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“And how do I know I should trust you?” Hibiki asked, a bit of venom in her voice. The man put a hand to his chin for a moment before snapping his fingers.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“How about this then, I’m going to give you some things that my friend made and you can do whatever you like with it.” the man offered. Hibiki thought about that and that did sound like a good offer, in fact it was so good that Hibiki took a moment to think about it being a trap.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“What’s the catch?” HIbiki asked.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Technically there isn’t one and the only reason I say ‘technically’ is because it has to do with the group that’s interested in your Meloetta.” the man said.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Which group would that be? In fact, now that I think about it, who are you?” Hibiki questioned, a bit less hesitant</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Just call me Beat and I can’t say the name of the group outright, but it should be fairly simple to figure out once you see the package.” Beat said as he reached into a bag he had with him. He proceeded to pull out a small, ornate wooden box and handed it to Hibiki. As she did, Melody took it and gave it a quick look over to make sure there was nothing off about it.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Looks clean to me, just be careful with what’s inside.</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Melody cautioned mentally. Hibiki mentally nodded before carefully opening it to look inside. The contests were thankfully nothing harmful and actually looked fairly simple, a pair of AR gloves, some clear red goggle lenses, a book with a pokeball on the cover, and three disks.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Ok… you know I’m going to let the IPP know about this meeting right?” Hibiki told Beat.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Of course I know that, but I think you’ll find that their enemy and mine are one in the same.” Beat said ominously. He then got up before he started to walk away. “By the way, I will give you one hint as to where to start researching for the group I mentioned as well as a word of warning.” Beat said.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“And those are?” Hibiki asked, a bit unnerved.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Look to remote regions as that’s where they started. As for that warning… just know that if you do decide to continue down this path, it’s not going to be an easy one for you.” Beat said as he put a hand to the back of his head.</span>
  <span></span>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Ok… thanks for the warning. Also you could have been less creepy and suspicious about this meeting.” Hibiki said.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Fair enough, I’ll be heading off now, but you will be seeing me again at some point.” Beat said as he walked off. Hibiki sat in place for a moment before closing the box and sighing.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>So… what are you going to do?</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Melody asked as Hibiki put her head in her hands out of frustration. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“To be frank, I have no clue. For all I know, if I take this to the IPP, this could infect their systems or something.” Hibiki said, a hint of panic in her voice.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>I mean it’s the best option we got, plus there is some sense to his actions. He does seem rather shifty, but I sensed no ill will from him.</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Melody said as she became visible and sat next to Hibiki. Hibiki looked down at Melody before looking at the box again.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“I suppose you’re right…” Hibiki sighed before her mind trailed off. She quickly got off of the bench and put the box away before perking up a bit. “Come on, let’s at least show this to Echo before we decide to do anything.” Hibiki said with a smile. Melody returned the smile before she turned invisible and the two of them headed back to the shop to meet Echo.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Chapter 8</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Sorry for the wait on this chapter, school is kicking my ass.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>Chapter 8: Decisions &amp; Discussions</strong>
</p><p>After looking for Echo, the two of them went to get lunch, Hibiki told her the encounter. As they sat down to eat, Echo just sighed and looked at Hibiki. "Do I even need to tell you how risky that was?" Echo questioned after Hibiki.</p><p>"Ok look… it wasn't my best idea ever, but what did you want me to do?" Hibiki responded, giggling a bit out of embarrassment.</p><p>"I don't know, how about coming to me so we could both speak to him?" Echo said as she pinched her forehead. Hibiki remained silent as she sipped her drink and made sure not to make eye contact.</p><p>"On a similar note though, what did you think of him?" Hibiki questioned. Echo thought about that for a few moments as she recalled what she could feel through Hibiki.</p><p>"Well, I agree with Melody in that he at least didn't seem to have any ill intentions. He did seem to be rather eccentric and I swear I've seen him somewhere before." Echo explained. Hibiki nodded, thinking that she recognised him as well. "Another thing that I personally noticed is that he seemed… relatively calm all things considered." Echo commented.</p><p>"Yeah… and that's the main thing that's making me so cautious. Why does he seem so calm and really friendly?" Hibiki said.</p><p>"I honestly have no clue, but what I'm more curious about is this group he mentioned. Whether he's a part of it or not, he did seem genuine when he told us about it." Echo commented.</p><p>"I honestly have no clue where to start with dissecting that other than the hint he gave us. Look to remote regions as that's where they started. What does that tell us?" Hibiki said. Echo closed her eyes and thought about it for a moment as their food arrived.</p><p>"When I hear about remote regions, I think of any region in the world that doesn't have a lot of reasons to travel there. The main one that comes to mind is one that I've only really heard about is a region called Orre." Echo commented.</p><p>"Hmm… That's probably a good starting point. Either way, I would say that it's a good idea to head over to the IPP." Hibiki said. Echo was going to say something but was interrupted by a small beep coming from her backpack which caused her to smile a little. "Echo… what did you buy/win?" Hibiki asked curiously, squinting a bit at her sister.</p><p>"I have no idea what you're talking about." Echo said with a snicker.</p><p>"Echo… we both know we aren't going back to our previous conversation now that I've brought it up. You aren't talking yourself out of this." Hibiki said with a smile. Echo looked around for a chance to not talk about what she had when she heard the sound of a zipper opening behind her. She turned and saw an aura around her zipper that was slowly opening it.</p><p>"Melody!" Echo screamed mentally, as she quickly zipped it back up. A small giggle came from Melody as she floated back to Hibiki. Echo then gave a quick sigh before she muttered something and unzipped the bag and grabbed something out of it. "Just promise you won't get mad at me for getting this." Echo said with a sigh.</p><p>"I promise. " Hibiki said with a smile and her arms crossed. Echo then took a deep breath before turning around and showing her a small tablet with a holographic person on it. The person was a 16 year old girl with yellow hair, white skin and blue eyes wearing a white Japanese schoolgirl outfit with black sleeves and legging.</p><p>"Hello there Echo-sama, is this your sister?" the hologram said.</p><p>"Nee-san…" Hibiki said as she looked down and shook slightly.</p><p>"Um… you said you wouldn't get mad." Echo said, a bit of fear in her voice.</p><p>"I'm not mad, just very jealous. What even is she if I may ask, a holocompanion or a straight up AI?" Hibiki said as she put a hand to her head. Echo opened her mouth to speak but went quiet when the hologram spoke up.</p><p>"Allow me, my name is Rin and I am an Artificial Intelligence that was given as a prize for winning a rhythm game tournament." Rin introduced giving a little bow.</p><p>"I wonder what game it was?" Hibiki sarcastically said.</p><p>"To be fair, I did only happen to just happen to join it because they needed a player. I also don't want to hear <em>anything</em> about luck from you sis." Echo said. Hibiki was going to say something but nodded as she glanced to where Melody was.</p><p>"Fair point on that part. Anyway, think we should go to the IPP Headquarters?" Hibiki asked.</p><p>"Yep, also I did take the time to at least inform Rin about everything so far. That shouldn't be an issue right?" Echo responded.</p><p>"It shouldn't be, just be careful about where you leave her." Hibiki said.</p><p>"Considering the information that I learned, yeah that's probably for the best." Rin said before Echo put her away.</p><p>"Is she going to stay in that holder for long?" Hibiki questioned.</p><p>"No, just need some time to move her to my goggles." Echo said. Melody then began to move away when Hibiki got out her Music Ball.</p><p>"Because I don't know what they have in their HQ and the fact that I <em>don't</em> want to become a criminal, I would prefer if you are in your ball till we get to the meeting." Hibiki told Melody.</p><p>"<em>... Fair enough. You are really cautious, you know that?</em>" Melody said as Hibiki recalled her.</p><p>"Yes I do." Hibiki said aloud. Echo simply smiled before the duo then left the restaurant and headed to the IPP Headquarters.</p><hr/><p>After a bit of searching and reflecting, Echo and Hibiki arrived in front of the IPP Headquarters. As they arrived, they saw Anabell standing out front and waving towards them. "There you two are. I was wondering when you would show up." Anabel said with a smile.</p><p>"Yeah, we were just taking care of some personal matters." Hibiki responded in a cheerful tone.</p><p>"Pardon me for asking a relevant question, but who are we going to meet?" Echo asked curiously.</p><p>"Detective Looker, head of the IPP Alarian Division and personal friend of mine. We'll talk about the finer details inside, come." Anabel said before she turned around. The three of them entered the building and both of the newbie trainers were impressed by how many people were walking around as well as the size. The interior of the building, when compared to other buildings in the area, was definitely more rural, with not nearly as many electronics everywhere. Just in the lobby, there were various detectives in suits, a few Pokemon Rangers that were stationed there, and several people asking for help.</p><p>"Well this seems busy, is it always like this?" Hibiki asked Anabel.</p><p>"Not usually this busy, but since the league season has started off we take some precautions." Anabel said as they walked through the security gate. The guards by the gate simply nodded as Anabel showed her badge and allowed the three in the main section of the building.</p><p>"You know I also don't think that I ever asked, what position are you in the IPP if you're allowed to reveal it?" Hibiki questioned.</p><p>"Basically the second in command for the Alarian Division, Looker trusts me with a lot and I don't let him down." Anabel responded, a small frown appearing on her face that the twins didn't see.</p><p>"So this whole thing is fairly important regarding Melody." Echo commented.</p><p>"Exactly." Anabel said as they stopped outside of a door. The door said 'Detective Looker' on it and as Anabell went to knock on the door, it opened and a man walking out stopped as he saw Anabel. The man was around 20 years, with white skin, blue hair with black highlights, and red eyes wearing an black IPP jacket, a blue shirt underneath that, black pants and red shoes.</p><p>"Oh, Ms. Anabel. What do I have the pleasure of seeing you here today?" the man asked in a suave voice.</p><p>"Agent Allegro, I am just guiding these two here to meet with Looker. You remember them from our meeting right?" Anabel stated, a hint of annoyance in her voice. Immediately, Allegro's face turned into one of indifference.</p><p>"Oh those two, what is so special about them anyway aside from the Meloetta? They're just some bratty kids." Allegro questioned.</p><p>"Hey!" Echo said as she stepped forward, Hibiki putting her arm to stop her.</p><p>"See what I mean? Whatever, I'm not concerning myself with them. I've got a job to do." Allegro said as he walked past the group down the hall. As he rounded the corner out of sight, Echo made a frustrated series of motions in his directions</p><p>"He's charming." Hibiki said sarcastically.</p><p>"Trust me, I know the feeling." Anabel said, pinching the bridge of her nose. She then sighed before opening the door to Looker's office. "Come on." Anabel told the two. Hibiki and Echo nodded before they entered the office. As they entered the office, they saw a man in a brown trenchcoat sitting at a desk.</p><p>"Ah, you two must be the sisters Anabel told me about. Come and sit, we have a bit to talk about." Looker said in a jovial tone.</p><p>"We appreciate the meeting, but what exactly did you want to talk about." Echo asked curiously.</p><p>"Well, let's get the basics out of the way. Anabel, if you would please." Looker said as he motioned to a screen on the wall. Anabel nodded before pressing a button on her wrist, which turned on the screen. On said screen was a series of photos of Melody in the wilderness of Alaria as well as three people in suits that Hibiki recognized. "Recently, an anonymous sender sent us these pictures. While we don't know who sent them and their origin, we know that they are accurate to various reports we have received over the past two months." Looker explained as various pictures changed focus.</p><p>"So wait, you're known about Melody for two months but haven't done anything to protect her?" Hibiki questioned.</p><p>"It's not that we haven't tried, it's more the fact that Mythical Pokemon are very elusive and that her pursuers have done a lot to hide their tracks." Looker said, bringing up a file and handing it to Echo. Echo took it and after looking through it for a moment, looked at Hibiki with a concerned look.</p><p>"He's not kidding, from what these files say, the three main people that they're following have no info on them despite them using various lodgings at various cities in the region." Echo said as she handed the file to her sister. Hibiki took the file and took a look through, seeing several payments across various hotels that all came from an unlisted card.</p><p>"What do you know about them in that case?" Hibiki asked.</p><p>"Well, we have a few guesses, but first, I would appreciate it if you brought out Melody. Don't want to do anything malicious, just want to talk with her as well as ask you two a question." Looker said. Hibiki nodded as she handed the file back to Echo and got out Melody's Music Ball to let her out. When she did, Melody looked around and glanced at Hibiki, who simply nodded to her, before bowing in front of Looker. "Fascinating." Looker said out of amazement.</p><p>"<em>So, I take it that this is Looker?</em>" Melody asked as she noticed the screen.</p><p>"Now then, before we continue, I want to lay some groundwork of trust. To do that, I want to offer you both an unofficial position on the IPP." Looker said. Hibiki and Echo both looked up at Looker with surprise and noted that Anabel was doing the same.</p><p>"What?!" Anabel exclaimed.</p><p>"As much as this might come as a surprise to you, the IPP does always ask promising young if they do want to be a part of the force, if only for a little while. It's usually very rare that this happens, but considering the current situation, I think it's for the best." Looker explained, a serious look never leaving his face. Hibiki and Echo looked at each other as Melody looked back at Hibiki.</p><p>"Do you think we could talk outside while Melody gets up to speed?" Hibiki questioned, a bit nervously.</p><p>"Of course… take all the time that you need." Looker said with a sigh. Hibiki stood up and bowed before she walked out of the room with Echo following suit and closing the door behind her. As soon as they left Looker just let his head fall on the desk as he put his hands on his head and let out a tired sigh. "Do you think I was too straightforward with them?" Looker asked. Anabel sighed as she put a hand on her partner's shoulder.</p><p>"No, honestly I don't think there was any way to comfortably transition to that topic. While I do wish you would have told me about this before the meeting, I understand why you need to." Anabel said with a smile. Melody glanced at the two detectives and gave a small smile before she turned her gaze back to the screen and the pictures on it.</p><p>"I know you two will pick the best choice for yourselves." Melody thought as she looked over the pictures and thought back to the past few months. Meanwhile outside Looker's office, Hibiki was pacing up and down as she thought about the offer while Echo was leaning against the door.</p><p>"You know this is a crazy offer right?" Echo asked her sister.</p><p>"Yep, but that's exactly why I am thinking about taking it." Hibiki said as she kept pacing.</p><p>"Look I'm not going to stop you from accepting it, but why are you so on board with this?" Echo questioned. Hibiki stopped pacing and turned to look at Echo with a coy smile on her face.</p><p>"I suppose I could ask you the same question, Miss 'Great Detective' Echo." Hibiki said, a bit of a giggle at the end. Echo immediately looked away and blushed at that response.</p><p>"We don't talk about that incident." Echo said, recalling the memory in question with a bit of embarrassment. There was a brief moment of silence before Echo spoke again. "If I did have to answer that though, it would definitely have to be at least the chance to work with people who know a lot about tech and a chance to at least make a good change for the world." Echo responded. Hibiki smiled as she heard those words, expecting them from her sister.</p><p>"Well then my reasons are the same as yours, except for one key difference." Hibiki said. Echo tilted her head out of curiosity, unsure about what Hibiki said. "I'm going to look into our grandmother's death." Hibiki said, a serious tone in her voice.</p><p>"Oh for the love of- seriously still on this?" Echo responded.</p><p>"Yeah, yeah, I've heard the spiel before from both you and mom. We know that her death was an accident, the case was closed because there wasn't enough evidence, and if there was any now, the chances of finding it are slim. I get all of that, but for the love god, listen to what I have to say." Hibiki ranted in a clear tone of annoyance. Echo stayed silent with a shocked look on her face, not used to Hibiki's outbursts. "Sorry, you know how I get when it's about grandma." Hibiki said, her head tilting down as a frown formed on her face.</p><p>"No no, I'm sorry. I know how much of a touchy subject it is for you and I didn't have any right to say that. I guess…. I just moved on mentally and don't really think about what I say." Echo said as she thought back to her fond memories with their grandmother. The two stood in silence before Hibiki sighed and rubbed the back of her head.</p><p>"It's just… this might be the one chance that I have to look into this personally. I know the IPP have handled it and come up with nothing, but there's just this nagging feeling I have that something is missing. Maybe this is just me not accepting what I know is true, maybe this is my coping mechanism for this, frankly I don't care the reason why. All I know is I just want some personal closure whether or not my gut feeling is right." Hibiki exposited. Echo stayed silent for a moment before she simply smiled and laughed a little.</p><p>"That definitely sounds like the sister that I know." Echo said happily. Hibiki simply smiled and walked up to hug her sister, who returned the hug in kind. As they were hugging, they heard a knock on the office door from inside of the room.</p><p>"Uh, sorry to interrupt, but could you come back inside? Melody seems to have something to say." Anabel said. The two looked at each other before nodding, their minds seemingly made up, and heading back into the office. As they entered, the saw a device on the desk that</p><p>"Ah, I was wondering when you two would join us. Before we talk about what Melody has to say, I suppose I should apologise for springing the question on you two so suddenly. Even though it seems like you've figured out an answer, I'm sorry for asking you that out of the blue before we had a chance to talk. I don't really know what else to say other than that." Looker said sheepishly.</p><p>"It's fine Mr. Looker, just maybe ease us in a bit if you ever decide to do something like that." Hibiki asked with a smile.</p><p>"Right now then Melody does have some things to tell us but before we get to that, I should explain to you the device we're using." Looker said as he gestured to the device on the table. The device looked fairly simple being a white square box made of metal with two antennas and a mic on the top and a screen on the front of it. "This is a piece of tech that we've been developing for a while, the Pokemon Language Translator, or the PLT for short." Looker said.</p><p>"Translator?" Echo said with a hint of curiosity.</p><p>"It's still very much a work in progress, but as you imagine by the name, this translates a pokemon's cries into actual understandable language." Looker said. Hibiki nodded as she mentally made a note that this will be useful as she can really only talk to Psychic Pokemon at the moment.</p><p>"So how exactly does this work?" Hibiki questioned. As if on cue, Looker turned the device on and gestured for Melody to speak. She nodded and proceeded to talk into the device for a few seconds. After a moment passed, the screen on the device had text on it.</p><p>"<em>Meloetta: From what Detective Looker said, this should at least disply something.</em>"</p><p>"That's amazing." Echo said as she was at the text being displayed.</p><p>"Like Looker said, it's still a work in progress, so there will be some misspellings and errors. To keep it simple, we're also only using the species name of the Pokemon speaking and letters if many of the same type of Pokemon are speaking." Anabel explained.</p><p>"You know, I'm actually kind of impressed that it's able to differentiate words from just the tone of cry and similar factors. At least, I'm assuming that's how it works." Hibiki said, earning an impressed look from Looker.</p><p>"Not a bad assumption as that is correct. Now then, on to the information Melody was talking about." Looker responded. Melody nodded and proceeded to talk into the PLT for about a minute, after which the machine whired and the translated text popped up on screen.</p><p>"<em>Meloetta: Ok, so to continue what I was exlaining to Looker and Anabel, I do remembere the time that was shown in these pictures. To give a bit of explanation, I come form a small village of Meloetta deep in the wildernes to the south of Alaria proper. It normally isn't like Meloetta to form a community, but our villge is an exception to that rule. I am seen as a leader of that village, buit we mostly keep to ourselves. That is until a few weks ago, when those three came to the village. They seemed to only want me though, so I purpseflly went with them to keep the village safe. I did eventually manage to get away, but they chaced me til I managed to slip away thanks to Hibiki.</em>"</p><p>"That is a lot of information." Hibiki said.</p><p>"It is, and actually gives us a hint to an approximate time frame to when they were here. Given that they seem to be fairly well hidden in the region, it's probably safe to assume that they have been here for a few months at least." Looker commented.</p><p>"Yeah, that would explain how they've been able to avoid you for so long." Echo replied.</p><p>"Before I get ahead of myself though, I want to ask about what your decision was for my earlier question. A bit of a weird time to ask, but this is IPP business, so we do need to know for sure if you're joining or not." Looker told the two. The twins looked at each other before Echo nodded at Hibiki, who simply smiled.</p><p>"We're willing to join." Hibiki said, earning a smile from Anabel.</p><p>"OK then, we'll work on getting you set up while talking about what you know, if anything." Looker said casually. As the group began talking, Hibiki began to recount their journey so far. Little did they know, there was someone else listening in via a small receiver in Hibiki's bag.</p><hr/><p>
  <em>In a Hotel in Symphonic City…</em>
</p><p>Wind was sitting on the bed with his headphones on, pinching his nose a bit as he heard the conversation over the receiver. "Well, at least this is going the direction I guessed it would." Wind said to himself.</p><p>"Still listening to that girl Wind?" a voice said from behind him. Wind jumped a bit before turning and seeing Wolf sitting on the bed behind him.</p><p>"Jesus Wolf, at least let a man know before you give them a damn heart attack. I thought you had left to go check some things out in the area and see where the drone ended up." Wind said as he calmed his heart down.</p><p>"Just got back and from what I can tell, the drone isn't here." Wolf explained.</p><p>"God damn it, I thought for sure it would have been at the gym." Wind said as he gripped his headphones out of frustration.</p><p>"I mean, you know that they probably took it. They don't have any reason not to and if the trainer didn't pick it up, then the Meloetta surely would have." Wolf commented, a hint of annoyance in his voice. Wind simply nodded, not wanting to push his superior's ire any longer. "Krystal should be back soon, said she had to take care of some stuff." Wolf said.</p><p>"... You still have your card right?" Wind asked suddenly. Wolf, realizing the implications of that, checked his wallet and sighed as he found his card wasn't there. "She's slippery as always." Wind commented as he noted a few things down.</p><p>"So to deviate from that topic, what exactly have you been able to listen to and figure out from that girl?" Wolf retorted, wanting to get off the topic fast.</p><p>"Well, I only came back to check on them now and they're both in the IPP, becoming agents right now." Wind responded. Wolf then immediately sighed again and put his head in his hands.</p><p>"This just became so much harder." Wolf commenced with a heavy sigh.</p><p>"Yep, what makes it more awkward is that she probably knows that I'm part of this because, like you said before, coming out of the forest without my armor was not the best move on my part." Wind told Wolf.</p><p>"It wasn't, but I have this strange feeling that she would have found out anyway if she recognized your voice." Wolf remarked. Wind simply nodded as he thought about something.</p><p>"What if this isn't a bad thing for us?" Wind suggested.</p><p>"...In what way is the trainer holding our target joining the IPP a good thing?" Wolf retorted in a sarcastic tone.</p><p>"We have a bug in their room and are currently listening to their conversation. What they know about us, we know and can plan around. I also might be able to get into their system with some finagling on my end." Wind told his superior, silently hoping for a proud response from him. Wolf took a moment to think about that and turned to Wind.</p><p>"That… actually is a good thing. Still sucks that they're with the IPP, but at least it does give us some knowledge." Wolf said. The two stayed silent for a moment before Wind thought about something.</p><p>"Hey… if they go north, do you think that they'll be going to our employer's base?" Wind asked.</p><p>"Probably not, she would have to be an idiot or really brave to go there." Wolf said.</p><p>"$5000 says that you're jinxing it." Wind said.</p><p>"$5000 says I'm right." Wolf said as he extended a hand. Wind shook on the bet silently as Krystal walked in the room holding a few bags. This sight caused Wolf to flop onto the bed and scream into the pillow, earning a stifled giggle from Wind.</p><p>"What are you so grouchy about?" Krystal asked.</p><p>"Why did you take my card?" Wolf said, muffled by the pillow. Krystal brought out the card in question and tossed it on the bed.</p><p>"It was Wind's." Krystal responded with a smirk. Wind quickly picked up the card and saw that it was indeed his, causing Wolf to quickly laugh.</p><p>"Ok… I'll give you that one." Wind said, used to these pranks by now.</p><p>"Anyway, what were you two just talking about?" Krystal asked as she sat on a chair nearby.</p><p>"We were just debating if the newest IPP recruit is going to our employer's base near the Fairy Tale Grove. Made a bet both ways between us." Wolf explained casually.</p><p>"See I would bet, but I have this strange feeling that I would call it perfectly." Krystal said with a small smirk.</p><p>"What are you talking about?" Wind questioned.</p><p>"Might just be my video game habits, but I'm going to guess that she's going to go in there and cause complete chaos." Krystal said. Wind and Wolf both just stared at her in silence with a look of shock on their faces. "Again, might just be my imagination running wild." Krystal said.</p><p>"OK so all joking aside, how exactly are we going to handle this? I know that we all don't agree with what our employer's doing and planning, but it's not exactly like we can exactly say no with how much we're getting paid for this." Wind told his teammates. At that point Wolf stood up and simply cracked his neck.</p><p>"We do what we have to do, you know that." Wolf replied. Wind simply looked at Wolf before sighing and nodding in agreement. "Look, it's not like I don't get it, but for now, we stick to the plan." Wolf said, a hint of sympathy in his voice.</p><p>"Yeah...so we go with what we discussed." Wind said as he stood up.</p><p>"Allright, we go to our locations then." Krystal said.</p><p>"Exactly, remember your orders and if shit hits the fan, get out fast if you can." Wolf told his two comrades. They both nodded and proceeded to talk more about their current plan as they thought about various things about their immediate future.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. Chapter 10</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Authors Note: So... I'm in a bit of a writing/creative pickle with this chapter onward. You see, I had originally made the Alaria region as just a region for the story to take place with various Pokemon from all regions. As I started to write this chapter though, I actually started to develop the region a bit and add a few new Pokemon and regional variants. As such, I took a long look at what I wrote at this story and decided that I'm going to be retconning some things as they come up, much to my chagrin. The first one that is going to be obvious later on is that Echo's Ralts is going to be a Regional Variant. That's really all I wanted to say, enjoy the chapter.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>Chapter 9: IPP Recruits &amp; Cases</strong>
</p>
<p>At the IPP Headquarters, Hibiki just got done telling Looker and Anabel about their encounter with Team Noise in the forest, the drone they managed to hit, and with Beat. "Ok wow, sounds like you two made a good call wanting to come here anyway." Looker said, a bit surprised by the amount of activity around the two girls.</p>
<p>"Should we be worried about either of the three parties?" Hibiki asked curiously. Looker thought about that for a moment as he thought about the three encounters</p>
<p>"Of the three parties you mentioned… I think we should keep an eye on this Beat character and whoever this drone belongs to. Team Noise shouldn't be that much of an issue." Looker said.</p>
<p>"Any reason in particular? They have been getting more bold these past few months." Echo responded.</p>
<p>"While that is true, even we at the IPP don't think they'll get up to that kind of scummy stuff. Still, we are already keeping an eye on them, so we will let you know if anything does change in this regard." Anabel explained. Echo simply nodded as she remembered the broken drone in her bag and brought it out.</p>
<p>"Right, now I remember you telling me about this over the phone. Based on what you just told us, there does seem to be a chance that this belongs to someone with interest in the gym battle, but I'll have our researchers see what they can find." Looker said.</p>
<p>"The one that interests us right now is this Beat, as he seems to know a lot more than we do. You said you got a box from him, correct?" Looker questioned. Hibiki simply nodded and got out the small box that was given to her.</p>
<p>"We did at least take a peak in there before we headed here, but it's just some random stuff that from what I can tell does have some meaning. He also said something along the lines that the IPP and him share the same enemy." Hibiki replied. Looker took the box and opened it up before taking out the contents and laying them on the table.</p>
<p>"I haven't done a look on those disks yet because I'm afraid that they might have malicious materials on them." Echo commented.</p>
<p>"That is a good thing and I agree with what you said Hibiki, this is a weird set of items that has some meaning." Looker said as he considered something. Anabel picked up the goggle lenses and looked them over, looking for any indication as to where they came from.</p>
<p>"I think these are modified AR lenses." Anabel said.</p>
<p>"How can you tell they're modified?" Echo questioned.</p>
<p>"Look, I've messed around with AR tech a lot during my time in the region, but these do seem a bit different just by the weight alone." Anabel said, a bit of excitement in her voice as she put them back.</p>
<p>"We'll have to look at it later, what I'm curious about is what this book is." Looker said. The book itself was fairly thick, but was locked with an electronic lock that had a screen on it with a microphone next to it. Seeing this, Looker immediately looked around the book and found a message on the back. " <em>'Let the virtual world be your guide, let the cave of the seers tell you the Key.</em>' Why go to such lengths to protect a book?" Looker said aloud.</p>
<p>"He obviously did his homework, from what I was able to look at, this book won't open without the passcode. While we could just pry it off, I'm curious to figure out what the passcode is." Echo commented.</p>
<p>"I also get the feeling that there might be a fail safe in case of a forced opening. Either way, we'll find the passcode." Looker said. At this point, Hibiki picked up the gloves and noticed that there were a few additional holes for what looked like wires. Before she could bring it up, a beep was heard from Looker's phone. "Ah shit, I forgot I have a meeting in about 30 minutes." Looker said with a groan.</p>
<p>"Want me to finish things here?" Anabel asked.</p>
<p>"I would appreciate it and also to get these two fully initiated." Looker said as he stood up.</p>
<p>"It was a pleasure to meet you Mr. Looker." Hibiki said in a nice voice.</p>
<p>"Just Looker will be fine. It was a pleasure meeting you two as well and I hope that you will do good things in the IPP." Looker responded as he left the office. After he left, Anabel put the lenses back on the desk as Anabel smiled.</p>
<p>"As for what to do with the contents of the box, I would say leave the disks with us for analysis. More than likely, you'll be needing those other things later." Anabel told the two.</p>
<p>"You sure about that?" Hibiki asked cautiously.</p>
<p>"Well, these will be in the IPP's hands no matter the scenario, but I feel more comfortable with them being in your possession." Anabel said.</p>
<p>"That's true." Hibiki said.</p>
<p>"Now then, let's get you two officially inducted into the IPP. Not a full official introduction, but enough to get you settled in." Anabe said. The two simply nodded as Melody smiled and spoke real quick into the PLT.</p>
<p>"<em>Meloetta: So, what is going to be done about ths?</em>"</p>
<p>"Well… I see no reason to not give this to you, if only to help work out the kinks." Anabel said. Echo simply went star eyed at the thought of having a prototype while Hibiki just awkwardly nodded in agreement. "Ok, now then come along, this is a bit of a long process and I want to get it done as soon as possible." Anabel said as she sighed. The two new recruits nodded as Melody was returned to her ball.</p><hr/>
<p>After about an hour and a half of answering questions and deciding on what paths they wanted to take, the two sisters were just sitting down in Anabel's office, a bit mentaly exhausted from their initiation. "Ok, that is definitely one of the more boring things that I have sat through." Hibiki commented to her sister.</p>
<p>"Agreed." Echo said simply. After a few more minutes of waiting, Anabel walked in with two folders.</p>
<p>"Well that was a long process, thank you two for going through with it." Anabel told the two as she sat down. She then gave a folder to each of the two twins, who both simply smiled as they looked at their new IPP information. "Now, a few rules to go over about what you all can do. With your current status, you can talk to local authorities and get their help for various things. You are also considered authority and can help out with anything in their area. Just don't go asking for ridiculous things about them." Anabel explained.</p>
<p>"So basically we can ask the local police for help, but don't be a dick about it." Echo repeated.</p>
<p>"Yep, another thing for you to know is that we can only go so far, especially with you two as recruits. If you want my advice, just stay away from the big corporations." Anabel told them, pinching her temple a little.</p>
<p>"Anything else aside from not getting into big trouble?" Hibiki questioned. Anabel thought for a moment before she remembered something and reached into her suit.</p>
<p>"Not really, but I did just remember something that I wanted to give you specifically." Anabel responded as she got out another folder. She slid it to Hbiki, who curiously opened it and immediately held her breath as she read her grandmother's case file. "I overheard that you were going to look into this case and I can understand why. As luck would have it, we actually reopened the case recently to look through some of the evidence again because of something that came up." Anabel said with a smile.</p>
<p>"From what I recall, our grandmother's death was ruled a suicied, but the IPP at the time felt something was off so they kept looking." Echo began to say, a hit of sadness in her voice.</p>
<p>"I suppose it's a good idea to start from the beginning as I was actually one of the people called on to help with this case close to when it started." Anabel said. This made both of the twins perk up a bit and look at Anabel, Hibiki looking with a look of surprise and glee. "To keep it brief so we aren't here all day, I was called in 10 years ago to help look over this case because there were some oditis that surrounded it. Over the next few months, we found a few pieces of evidence that pointed to something as well as a couple of witnesses, but nothing definitive to nail down another cause of death. We eventually had to close it officially because of how much was going into it, but I always kept coming back and looking into it unofficially." Anabel summarized.</p>
<p>"So why did you decide to reopen?" Hibiki questioned. At that point, Anabel looked through the files and got out a picture that seemed to show Symphia, or at least someone who looked like her, in front of a mural on the side of a mountain as well as a letter that seems to be written in gibberish.</p>
<p>"About five days ago, this was sent to us by an anonymous person via a Pidgeot. Now we don't know who the Pidgeot belonged to, it left before we could verify it, but it left us these two items." Anabel explained.</p>
<p>"How recent are these?" Hibiki asked, a hint of hope in her voice.</p>
<p>"The letter seems to be at least written before Symphia died, but the picture seems to at least be from our last few months and from our research doesn't seem to have been taken in Western Alaria." Anabel responded.</p>
<p>"... This is very interesting and all, but what about the possibility that this is just someone who looks like our grandmother?" Echo said, wanting to be at least a little reasonable.</p>
<p>"See that's the nice part about this picture, the person is actually not our main point of interest." Anabel said as she flipped the picture over. On the back, there was some writing that looked very familiar to Hibiki and Echo.</p>
<p>"Never give up hope on the impossible, I know you haven't Hibi and Reverb. -Symphia"</p>
<p>"That's her hand writing." Hibiki said, her voice cracking a bit.</p>
<p>"Yeah it is, and those are our nicknames that she used." Echo said, her previous sense of reason now gone.</p>
<p>"Even if we assume that someone somehow got your nicknames and learned how to write in your grandmother's handwriting, they would need to get someone who looks like her for the picture. Granted, this is a very real possibility, but it was enough for me to petition to reopen the case." Anabel explained.</p>
<p>"So… are you giving this case to us?" Echo questioned.</p>
<p>"I am and the only reason that I'm giving this to you is because I just have this feeling that you two will make a lot more progress on this than we ever could." Anabel said.</p>
<p>"You sure about that Miss Anabel? It just seems like it's a weird thing to do, giving this case and expecting us to find what people from the IPP couldn't, no offense of course." Echo remarked.</p>
<p>"None taken and trust me when I say that both Looker and I have met some amazing trainers in our past. Giving this to you is honestly child's play compared to what they've done." Anabel responded, a small smile coming on her face as she remembered a few trainers in particular. Echo looked at Hibiki, a bit confused at Anabel's statement, and her sis simply responded with a confused shrug.</p>
<p>"Ok… so aside from the case file, is there anything else you need to let us know about?" Echo sighed awkwardly. Anabel tilted her head a bit as she thought about that before smiling.</p>
<p>"Just that someone is going to be waiting for you outside in a little bit. I won't say who it is, but you'll know them when you see them." Anabel said as she stood up. Hibiki and Echo took that as their cue to get ready to leave when Hibiki remembered something.</p>
<p>"Before I forget, what is the name of that organization you mentioned back at Cherry's lab?" Hibiki asked.</p>
<p>"Ah right, thought I was forgetting something. Truth be told, we don't know much aside from the fact that they're in Alaria and seem to be working on something due to large amounts of various resources being transferred all over the region." Anabel explained. Hibiki simply nodded as Anabel extended her hand. "Anyway, it's been nice talking with both of you. Now go do the IPP proud." Anabel said as she shook their hands. Hibiki and Echo returned the hand shake before they turned around and left the office.</p>
<p>"We'll update you if we find anything about the case." Hibiki said as they left. Anabel simply nodded and after they left, sighed and slumped back in her chair.</p>
<p>"This is definitely not what I expected to be doing today, but I can't say that I'm displeased about it." Anabel said as she got back to work herself.</p><hr/>
<p>As the two exited the IPP building, Hibiki let out a big sigh of nervousness, a bit glad that it was all over. "Well, I can certainly say that this journey is already more exciting than I thought it would be." Hibiki said.</p>
<p>"Yep… so what do we do now?" Echo asked</p>
<p>"Well, I suppose we could rethink our route through the gyms." Echo suggested.</p>
<p>"That's probably for the best, but first, I need to sit down and just let everything that happened settle in." Hibiki said, a bit of exhaustion in her voice. Echo simply nodded and got her two Pokémon out to let them stretch, Hibiki doing the same with Venemy and Melody, who was already invisible. As they sat down, Hibiki looked over at Ralts and noted that he seemed a bit different from what she remembered. His 'hair' has a yellow outline on it, it's crystal had a yellow center surrounded by a red outline, and his little dress had the electric patches on it with yellow tips at his hands. "Huh… how did I not notice that your Ralts was an Alarian variant?" Hibiki commented.</p>
<p>"You know… I don't know either. Still happy with my choice." Echo said as she patted Ralts' head. Ralts immediately smiled at that gesture and she immediately snuggled closer to Echo.</p>
<p>"So, I was actually going to suggest something about the riddle on the back of the book." HIbiki said as she got the book out and looked at the riddle on the back.</p>
<p>"You think you might know something.?" Echo questioned.</p>
<p>"Just a guess from a few things I've heard. Now I should preface that all of this is based on the assumption that all of this stuff is related to the goings on in Alaria." Hibiki began to explain.</p>
<p>"<em>That makes sense to assume. After all, if it's outside of Alaria, then we just give this stuff to the IPP and I don't think Beat wanted that.</em>" Melody commented.</p>
<p>"So the riddle is <em>'Let the virtual world be your guide, let the cave of the seers tell you the Key.' </em>For me, there's one place that fits that description for me, at least the second part. North of Fairy Tale Grove, I've heard talk about a cave to the north called the Cave of Fortune. Supposedly, there is a Solrock and Lunatone that often like to give fortunes to people that are willing to make the trek." Hibiki explained.</p>
<p>"But the issue you're probably thinking of is the first part right?" Echo asked.</p>
<p>"Correct, because I can't figure out what the first part of this means. Like it's obviously something to do with technology, probably something in AR, but for the life of me I can't think of where that part might be located." Hibiki confirmed. Echo let the thought sit in her mind for a moment before they heard someone approaching and looked up to see Professor Cherry.</p>
<p>"Hey there you two." Cherry greeted.</p>
<p>"Professor, what are you doing here?" Echo asked.</p>
<p>"Well, Anabel did say that someone was going to be waiting for you." Cherry said with a smile.</p>
<p>"Huh, no offense, but I definitely expected someone else or another IPP agent." Hibiki commented, shyly looking away. Cherry simply smiled as she pulled out a holobadge that read '<em>Professor Cherry: Alarian IPP Science Division</em>'. "...<em>Oh.</em>" Hibiki squeaked out of embarrassment.</p>
<p>"I take no offense of course and it's fine that you didn't know, I tend to keep my distance from the IPP. As for why me, I would like to tell you both about a request that I would like for you to help me with." Cherry told the two. Echo and Hibiki looked at each other before they simply shrugged, which Cherry took as a go ahead signal. "I would like to journey with you two to see if I can find a Pokemon I've been looking for for the past 8 years." Cherry told the two.</p>
<p>"That's fine with us, but what is this Pokemon you're looking for if you don't mind us asking." Echo responded.</p>
<p>"Well… I would prefer a more private environment as this is kind of a sensitive topic." Cherry said as she looked around. The two simply nodded as they stood up with their Pokemon and followed Cherry to a hotel. After going up to her room, she quickly locked the door and got out a notebook that she had before turning to a page she had marked. "Apologies for this, but this is very sensitive stuff." Cherry said as she showed the page to the two of them. On the page in question, was a rough drawing of a large bird with harp-like wings in what appeared to be a stormy sky.</p>
<p>"What is this, I've never seen something like this before? I'm also surprised at your drawing skills, no offense of course." Hibiki said as she took the notebook.</p>
<p>"None taken again, but I did kind of have to resort to drawing because of what happened that day." Cherry explained. Hibiki tilted her head, not remembering what Cherry was talking about, but Echo clearly remembered as her face turned to one of shock.</p>
<p>"You drew this on the first Blackout Event right?" Echo questioned. Cherry simply nodded as Hibiki snapped her fingers recalling the event herself.</p>
<p>"<em>So if you don't mind me asking as I was never really interested in humans at the time, what is a Blackout Event?</em>" Melody asked.</p>
<p>"A Blackout Event is only something that's begun happening recently. It basically is the region wide shut down of electronics for about a period of time." Echo explained to Melody.</p>
<p>"Correct, and I think that this Pokemon is behind it." Cherry said as she tapped the picture.</p>
<p>"What makes you think that?" Hibiki asked.</p>
<p>"8 years ago, almost immediately after the first event stopped, I happened to see this Pokemon in the sky. Now since I was busy helping make sure everything was online at the time, the best I could do was take a good look at it. From what I was able to tell, it seemed to be manipulating the EM fields of the region." Cherry began to explain.</p>
<p>"That would explain why all our tech seems to turn off. Although it's fairly equipped to handle the EM waves normally, they do tend to mess up whenever the EMwaves fluctuate, especially during Blackout Events." Echo commented.</p>
<p>"Anyway, I should stress that this is a theory that I'm working on, but I've either seen or caught glimpses of this Pokemon during most Blackout events. I drew this rough sketch after making sure it wasn't just my imagination and I've been trying to find it ever since." Cherry finished.</p>
<p>"Interesting, well this seems like it should be a simple enough task in theory. One thing that I'm seeing is that you wrote down is that it's nest seems to be in Eastern Alaria." Hibiki noted as she was reading.</p>
<p>"From what I can gather, it seems to always head back towards that direction, so it's the best guess I got. Before you ask why I haven't made a tracker to for sure know it's location, it usually appears high in the sky and circles the region." Cherry said. There was a moment of silence as no one knew what to talk about when Hibiki thought about something and proceeded to get out the box.</p>
<p>"Professor, since you're going to accompany us, I would actually like your opinion on these items." Hibiki requested as she opened it. Cherry, out of curiosity, picked up the gloves and lenses to look at them before she gasped.</p>
<p>"Well… I can tell you that I do recognise both, but why do you have these?" Cherry inquired.</p>
<p>"They were given to me by someone named Beat, we have no idea if he's a good guy though." Echo explained. Cherry stayed silent for a moment before she let out a long sigh. "Judging by that, I take it you know him?" Echo questioned.</p>
<p>"I most certainly do, and as for his allegiance, I can safely say that he mostly keeps to himself and that's about it." Cherry said.</p>
<p>"We can talk about him later and go more in depth, but for now, what exactly are these things?" Hibiki told Cherry.</p>
<p>"The lenses are known as Multi-spectrum lenses. You know all those cool visors and stuff in movies and video games? These are basically AR versions of those with a few different visors built in, though I'm not sure which settings are on it." Cherry explained.</p>
<p>"That's cool, what about the gloves?" Hibiki said, noting a bit of sparkles in Echo's Eyes. Cherry, taking a closer look at the gloves, let out a gasp of surprise.</p>
<p>"Well I'll be damned, he did manage to get these things after all." Cherry said to herself. Hibiki and Echo looked at each other as Cherry snapped out of her surprised trance. "Sorry about that, but it is very good that you have these. These two are what Beat has coined, Snag Gloves. These are for a very special purpose, but I'm a bit concerned as to why he gave them to you Hibiki." Cherry explained.</p>
<p>"What are they for?" Hibiki questioned.</p>
<p>"Well… that's a little bit awkward to explain." Cherry said. Hibiki felt a little suspicious and was about to ask her something when Echo spoke up</p>
<p>"We'll worry about it when we can get those to function. After all, they look like they need to be connected to something to work properly." Echo said.</p>
<p>"Y-Yeah, they need to be connected to something in order to work. I'll tell you what they do then." Cherry said, a bit of awkwardness in her voice. Hibiki simply sighed as she pushed that thought to the back of her mind.</p>
<p>"Ok, so since that is probably everything covered, what should we do now?" Hibiki asked.</p>
<p>"If you two don't mind, I would like to take some time to myself and make sure everything is settled back at the lab." Cherry said as she brought out a phone.</p>
<p>"That sounds good, who do you have watching the lab?" Hibiki asked.</p>
<p>"An assistant who happens to love pokemon, so it's in good hands." Cherry said.</p>
<p>"Nice, well we'll see you later then, we have some things to handle in town." Echo said. Cherry simply nodded as the two recalled their pokemon and left Cherry's room. As soon as they left, Cherry quickly got out her phone and dialed a number. After a few rings, a familiar voice to her picked up.</p>
<p>"Ah, Professor Cherry. For what reason do I owe the call?" Beat questioned in an innocent voice.</p>
<p>"Well, I just found out what you gave to Hibiki." Cherry said, a bit of anger in her voice.</p>
<p>"I was wondering when you were going to find out." Beat responded.</p>
<p>"You knew I would look at them!?" Cherry vocalized.</p>
<p>"Of course, it is you after all." Beat said in a joyful tone. Cherry simply sighed as she pinched her nose out of annoyance.</p>
<p>"Ok, so let me just cut to the chase, why did you give them the Snag Gloves? More importantly, where did you get them, cause I know for a fact that you don't have the tech to make them." Chery said.</p>
<p>"That is the award winning question, isn't it? In any case, I think you'll very quickly find that it's from our mutual friend and they are in the region." Beat said, getting a bit serious towards the end of his sentence. Cherry nodded in regret as she completely understood what Beat was saying.</p>
<p>"I just don't want to get those kids involved. Sure they might be able to stop them, but if what you told me is true, I wouldn't forgive myself if anything happened to them." Cherry said, a bit of desperation in her voice.</p>
<p>"I know… trust me, I didn't want to get them involved either. After thinking about it however, I think they can do it." Beat told Cherry.</p>
<p>"I hope you're right." Cherry said with a sigh.</p>
<p>"Anyway, I was actually going to send you some new info I picked up. It's not much to go off of, but seeing as you're traveling with those two, I'm going to guess it'll come in handy." Beat said. Cherry was about to ask, but quickly remembered something Beat had given her in the past.</p>
<p>"Always a crafty one aren't you? I'll use the info well." Cherry said as she put a hand on her shoulder.</p>
<p>"That's all I can ask for. Let me know if anything else happens and keep in touch. Talk to you later." Beat said before he hung up. Cherry took a moment of silence before she smiled and set her phone down to look over the information that she was given.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0011"><h2>11. Chapter 11</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>Chapter 10: Forest Talks</strong>
</p>
<p>A few hours had passed since they all talked and the three met up at the entrance to the Fairy Tale Forest. "Ok, so are you two ready to head to Fairy Tale Grove?" Cherry asked as she looked at the time.</p>
<p>"Yep, we want to get there as soon as we can." Echo told Cherry.</p>
<p>"Still, are you sure? Because I've heard a few creepy things about this Forest at night." Cherry cautioned, slightly rolling her eyes a bit.</p>
<p>"Cherry, quick rhetorical question, do we look like kids?" Hibiki said with a smile. Cherry simply nodded and giggled a bit at the question. As they kept talking, there was a ding that all of them didn't notice as a lot of the lights powered on for night time. "By the way Cherry, do you have a Pokemon on you? It's probably a stupid question, but it's at least a good thing to make sure of." Hibiki questioned.</p>
<p>"I do actually." Cherry said as she got out a Pokeball. She threw it in the air and called out a Litwick that appeared in her arms, happily wiggling and cheering.</p>
<p>"Oh, is this the last starter?" Echo questioned as Hibiki pet Litwick.</p>
<p>"Yep, he took a liking to me and I decided to bring him along." Cherry said.</p>
<p>"Actually that brings up a question I wanted to know, what kind of Pokemon live in the Fairy Tale Forest… and why is it called that anyway?" Hibiki questioned.</p>
<p>"The Fairy Tale Forest, as the name implies is home to a lot of Fairy, Bug, and Grass Type Pokemon, but it's also home to a few Poison and Dark type Pokemon. As for why it's like that, supposedly it's a hold over from before Alaria was founded." Cherry explained as Litwik floated out of her arms and hovered next to here.</p>
<p>"Really?" Echo said, now a bit curious.</p>
<p>"I really don't want to go into the lecture about Alaria's history, but let's just leave it at the fact that this region is still fairly new, only maybe formed about 80 years ago. The only reason we're as developed as we are is because of our neighbors in Orre and Kalos." Cherry told the two.</p>
<p>"Interesting, I might have to sit down and talk with you about history later. Not to sound mean or anything, but I know my sis isn't exactly the biggest history buff when it comes to the world in general." Echo told Cherry.</p>
<p>"I mean, you're not exactly wrong there. I do pay attention though, it just has to involve pokemon." Hibiki said. Cherry laughed at that, completely understanding where Hibiki was coming from. "By the way Miss Cherry, do you mind if I ask you something that I've been wondering since you showed us that picture?" Hibiki asked.</p>
<p>"Just Cherry is fine and sure, go ahead." Cherry responded.</p>
<p>"I was just curious why you're so set on finding out the cause of the Blackout Events and seeing if it is a Pokemon. Granted, I get it, you're a Pokemon Professor and all of that, but why are you so interested in it anyway?" Hibiki questioned. Cherry thought about that for a moment before sighing heavily and looking up.</p>
<p>"I suppose it's so I can have some closure myself. I don't want to get into it too much, but there are a lot of deaths around the Blackout Events and one of them was someone close to me." Cherry said, a hint of sadness in her voice. Hibiki then turned a bit pale as she awkwardly rubbed the back of her head, a bit embarrassed and ashamed at the response she received. "Don't beat yourself up over it, I would have let it slp at some point." Cherry told Hibiki, putting a hand on her shoulder.</p>
<p>"You make a good point. Still doesn't make me not feel bad." Hibiki sighed.</p>
<p>"Come on sis, like she said, it's nothing to be so embarrassed or ashamed about. Not like I don't get where you're coming from though." Echo said. The group walked on in awkward silence as the immediate scenery started to turn from grassy plains to dusk woods as they entered the Fairy Tale Forest.</p>
<hr/>
<p>As they continued along, Hibiki stopped for a moment and looked at Cherry. "Look, I'm sorry that I can be socially awkward at times. I just… felt like saying that." Hibiki said sheepishly.</p>
<p>"It's fine, trust me when I say that I get it." Cherry said with a smile.</p>
<p>"I may as well also jump in and say that you better get used to this, she does this whole thing a lot." Echo said.</p>
<p>"Hey!" Hibiki shouted, a bit offended. Cherry simply giggled at that as she looked around and noticed a few different Pokemon going about their business.</p>
<p>"Actually feel like I should ask this because it feels appropriate, what kinds of teams are you two looking to make?" Cherry questioned.</p>
<p>"I know that I want a more Electric and Steel focused team, but I wouldn't say no to anything else. Hibiki on the other hand… no clue." Echo told Cherry.</p>
<p>"That's… correct. There's just so many Pokemon that I want to try. Like I know that there's several types of teams out there that are balanced, but I really could care less about balance." Hibiki said, glancing from side to side a bit.</p>
<p>"So you want a team full of Pokemon you like but like way too many of them?" Cherry replied.</p>
<p>"Exactly." Hibiki said simply.</p>
<p>"Why do I feel that exact pain?" Cherry commented.</p>
<p>"I thought being a Pokemon Professor would mean you have access to basically every Pokemon in the region." Echo said.</p>
<p>"I mean, that's partially true. I have access to <em>study </em>every Pokemon in the Region, not use aside from those that I'm given as starters." Cherry explained. The group kept talking about Pokemon related things as Hibiki brought Melody out to just enjoy the chat. Eventually, it became night time and the group set up camp for the day, with Echo doing the cooking, Hibik setting up the tents, Cherry looking over the lenses and gloves, and all their Pokemon mingling with each other.</p>
<p>"Ok all, food's ready!" Echo called out. The Pokemon all cheered as they all took or were given their food and ate along with their trainers.</p>
<p>"Wow Echo, this is really good." Cherry said.</p>
<p>"Thanks, I've been practicing for this very reason. Normally I would let Hibiki try doing this… but let's just say her cooking is sometimes the spontaneous combustion kind." Echo said, giving an eye to her sister.</p>
<p>"I will have you know that I've only made 4 meals burst into flames thank you very much." Hibiki said proudly.</p>
<p>"...You aren't in the best cooker are you?" Cherry asked.</p>
<p>"Oh god no, not in the slightest. Even if I had control of my powers I would be shit at it." Hibiki said.</p>
<p>"I thought you could control them from what I remember seeing of you." Cherry said, a bit surprised by the statement.</p>
<p>"Well it's a bit finicky at times. To keep it a long story short, Hibiki has control over some of her powers, but not all of them and they are very prone to her emotional state." Echo explained.</p>
<p>"That… makes sense to me. From what I know about psychics and esper, espers are more prone to random emotional outbursts." Cherry casually added. This surprised both Echo and Hibiki, who both looked at Cherry with surprise. "What? Just because I'm a Pokemon Professor doesn't mean I have other hobbies." Cherry said as she continued to eat her food.</p>
<p>"We mean no offense, but we didn't think there was someone in the region who actually studied psychics and Espers." Echo told Cherry.</p>
<p>"I suppose that makes sense, not many people do. I do it because it's fun to think about the supernatural side of the world." Cherry responded.</p>
<p>"Actually… this is a rare chance I'll have to ask this question then. You don't have to answer this if you don't want to, but I've always wondered, what is the difference between a psychic and an esper?" Hibiki questioned. Cherry tilted her head for a moment as she thought about the question and simply smiled after a few seconds.</p>
<p>"I suppose you're right in that regard. I should warn you that this explanation will take a bit of time as there is a good amount of info to go over…. and some of it you two might not" Cherry warned the two, who had just finished their food. They both simply looked at each other and nodded before looking back at Cherry.</p>
<p>"Ok then, to start let's distinguish what powers make up Psychics, Hex Maniacs, and Espers. In general all three share a common trait of general magical ability; levitation, simple illusion tricks, things like that. Where they differ is what powers they use beyond simple magic.</p>
<p>Psychics are generally male and mainly focus on amplifying that basic magic to varying higher levels; more complex tricks, stronger levitation, ect. While they don't quite reach a Psychic Pokemon's level, those that master it can get quite close to it. Of the three I'm talking about, they are easily the most common.</p>
<p>Hex Maniacs are generally female and are more focused on the occult side of mage. Nothing demonic or anything, but stuff like summoning rituals, placing curses, and having a general spooky nature to them. Some Hex Maniacs can even do the opposite of what you might expect, sometimes being the ones that expel ghosts.</p>
<p>Espers have both female and male users in their ranks, but they are by far the rarest of the three, usually only happening if a Legendary Pokemon blessed their bloodline in some way. This blessing is usually depicted as a symbol somewhere on their body, usually the back. Their powers, while they might not manifest until later in life, are basically the stuff you see in movies and the like; elemental powers, space manipulation, time manipulation, and all the in between stuff. One drawback to all of this is that an Esper's powers can be a bit hard to control for various reasons, ranging from straight up denial to emotional outbursts. It is very possible for an Esper to end up killing themselves due to an outburst, but those that do end up mastering their powers are some of the most skilled trainers in the world."</p>
<p>As Cherry finished up, she noted that Hibiki seemed a bit tense. "So are there any questions that you two have about all of that?" Cherry asked.</p>
<p>"I suppose one that I have is simply, why are Espers usually never heard about in the world of Pokemon?" Echo questioned.</p>
<p>"That is for a very simple reason, they don't like to be in the spotlight. While I have no idea how true that is, would you like to be in the spotlight if you had near absurd levels of power?" Cherry responded. Echo simply nodded with content at that answer as Hibiki spoke up.</p>
<p>"Was my grandma an Esper?" Hibiki choked out. Echo and Cherry looked at Hibiki in surprise as she shook a bit.</p>
<p>"Well… that one I can safely answer no. I personally know your grandmother and she never showed any signs of being one." Cherry told Hibiki.</p>
<p>"I see, but why wasn't she one?" Hibiki inquired.</p>
<p>"Simply put, it just skipped her. While your bloodline is blessed by a Pokemon, it doesn't necessarily mean every generation will have an Esper in it. Hell, a lot of the time Espers never even awaken their powers in their lifetime, most just live full lives without even knowing that they were one." Cherry told Hibiki. Hibiki simply nodded, seeming content with this answer. "To make it not awkward, I'll stop here for now, but feel free to ask anytime about this stuff, I'm always happy to help." Cherry said as she stood up.</p>
<p>"Speaking of stopping, it's getting late. We should probably turn in for the night." Echo said as she yawned. Hibiki opened her mouth to say something, but a yawn came out instead as she covered her mouth.</p>
<p>"Yeah we should go to bed." Hibiki said. Their Pokemon simply nodded as they all headed to their respective tents and went to bed.</p>
<hr/>
<p>As the night went on, Echo eventually woke up and stretched as she got out of her tent to take in the forest air. "Wow, now I can see why Mom wanted me and Hibiki to get out of the house more. This is nice." Echo said to herself. She took a moment to stretch and walk around the camp before going back to sleep. As she was walking, she noticed Hibiki's tent open and saw her sister sitting a bit away from the camp and looking to the stars as the forest lit up around them.</p>
<p>"<em>So this is the sky she always looked up to?</em>" Hibiki thought as she held her necklace in her hand tight. She heard someone walking up behind her and turned to see Echo standing next to her.</p>
<p>"Mind if I take a seat sis?" Echo questioned. Hibiki simply nodded and she took a seat, the two of them staying silent as various sounds filled the air.</p>
<p>"So… I take it you want to talk to me about something?" Hibiki asked awkwardly, not sure if she should be asking the question.</p>
<p>"You're really nervous about this whole journey aren't you?" Cherry responded.</p>
<p>"What gave you that idea?" Hibiki said, a knowing yet sad smile appearing on her face.</p>
<p>"The fact that you've been very jumpy this whole trip to here is one factor. I don't think I need to mention the entirety of our visit to Alaria City. Your reaction to the end of Cherry's Lecture is something else that worries me." Echo listed.</p>
<p>"Alright, alright, you made your point. ...Do I really make it that obvious?" Hibiki responded, a bit sheepishly.</p>
<p>"Just a little." Echo said with a giggle. Hibiki softly hit her sister's arm as she smiled and looked up to the stars.</p>
<p>"You're not wrong, I've been nervous about this journey ever since we found out about it last year. Now obviously I am excited, but there was always a part of me that is nervous about all of this." Hibiki admitted, bringing her legs to her chest.</p>
<p>"Why are you nerv… This is about taking care of Melody and living up to grandma's legacy, isn't it?" Echo asked, the realization hitting her hard. Hibiki simply nodded as she put her head on her knees. "... I'm not going to act like that isn't reasonable to be fair. The whole thing with Melody is something I wouldn't dare try and say that I would even think about attempting to help. I mean no offense to you, but I just don't have it in me." Echo told Hibiki.</p>
<p>"You're not wrong, but you know how kind I am. I honestly just can't help myself, especially when it comes to Pokemon." HIbiki said.</p>
<p>"I know, hell I could say the same when it comes to technology. You give me a broken piece of tech, I'll happily do my best to fix it or see if I can make something from it." Echo told Hibiki, a goofy smile on her face. Hibiki simply laughed as she recalled a moment from her sister that she never forgot.</p>
<p>"Do you remember the day that mom brought home that broken holoprojector and you ended up turning it into a small house keeping bot?" Hibiki asked. Echo simply groaned as she remembered that day vividly.</p>
<p>"Yes I do and to this day I will have no idea why I decided to give it a high pitched voice. It was funny at first, but man did it get out of hand fast." Echo said with a small laugh.</p>
<p>"Man I remember you getting so annoyed that you almost decided to break it." Hibiki reminisced.</p>
<p>"I only didn't because you convinced me to and you were right to do so. That thing has helped us around the house so much." Echo said. Hibiki simply nodded as she noticed a presence next to her. "Anyway, I better get back to bed and make sure one of us is awake in the morning." Eco said as she began to get up.</p>
<p>"Actually I want to ask you something." Hibiki said suddenly. Echo curiously looked over to Hibiki, who put a hand to the back of her neck. "Do you think you could draw or take a picture of my Esper Symbol? I want to ask Cherry which Pokemon it belongs to and I would rather not show my back to her." Hibiki asked, a bit of blush appearing on her face. Echo simply giggled at her sister's request as she took out her phone and Hibiki stood up.</p>
<p>"Sure, that's simple enough." Echo said. Hibiki brought up her shirt and showed her back to Echo, who took a picture of the symbol and saved it. "Ok, I got it." Echo said as Hibiki put her shirt down.</p>
<p>"Perfect, I think I'm going to stay outside for a little longer. Just need to air out my worries." Hibiki told her sis.</p>
<p>"All right, see you tomorrow then." Echo said as she went off to her tent. Hibiki then sat back, looking up at the stars as she looked for the presence again.</p>
<p>"<em>Did you have to do that while I was here?</em>" Melody asked as she appeared next to Hibiki, a slight blush on her face.</p>
<p>"Sorry, I knew you were in the area, but I didn't know exactly where." Hibiki said, a bit embarrassed.</p>
<p>"<em>It's fine.</em>" Melody responded. The two stayed silent as they sat under the night sky before Melody thought of a question. "<em>Why do you want to be the Alarian Champion aside from wanting to live up to your grandmother's legacy?</em>" Melody asked curiously.</p>
<p>"...Well, I suppose it's because it's always something I strived for, even without my grandmother's legacy. Hell, as much as I want to make her proud, she's not the reason I want to be champion." Hibiki explained.</p>
<p>"<em>Is it more a sense of power? I know that probably isn't the case, but I figured I would get it out of the way.</em>" Melody questioned.</p>
<p>"Fair enough. While that idea is nice, I really don't swing that way. The main reason that I want to become champion is more a test of my confidence." Hibiki told Melody.</p>
<p>"<em>Test of Confidence?</em>" Melody repeated.</p>
<p>"If you couldn't tell from my mannerisms, I am the quiet and reserved type of person. I'm usually the one who you wouldn't think much of, but I have a few quirks about myself. That being said, I want to prove to myself that I can make friends and become champion in my own way." Hibiki elaborated, a hint of confidence in her voice. Melody simply nodded as Hibiki stood up and looked to the sky. "Truth be told, I honestly don't know if I can do it and frankly, I don't care. I want to give it a try to prove to myself that I have promise." Hibiki said as she relaxed a little.</p>
<p>"<em>...I see. Then I see no reason not to help you with that goal. Not that I have a choice in that matter at the moment.</em>" Melody said as she floated up to Hibiki's head. Hibiki simply nodded, Melody noting a soft determination in her eyes. "<em>I do want you to promise me one thing though.</em>" Melody requested.</p>
<p>"What would that be?" Hibiki asked.</p>
<p>"<em>At the end of all of this, whether you do end up becoming the champion or not, I want you to let me go if I want it.</em>" Melody responded. Hibiki looked a bit unsurprised at that answer and simply smiled at the response.</p>
<p>"That's a promise I can make." Hibiki told Melody. Melody simply nodded before she quickly looked at Hibiki in a bit of surprise. "I told you before, I want to make friends. I personally don't care if you're my Pokemon at the end of this, even though I've always wanted a Meloetta as a partner. If you can be my friend, that I consider that a victory in my book." Hibiki said as she extended a fist towards Melody. Melody blinked out of surprise before sighing and tapping her hand on Hibiki's fist with a small smile.</p>
<p>"<em>You are one weird trainer, you know that?</em>" Melody said. Hibiki simply nodded before she remembered something and reached into her bag. She quickly pulled out the portable harm that she had and quickly tuned it before strumming it. "<em>I didn't know you played the harp.</em>" Melody commented.</p>
<p>"Eh, some talents just come naturally to music lovers." Hibiki said as she checked a few things.</p>
<p>"<em>... Do you mind if I join you if you were planning on playing?</em>" Melody questioned. Hibiki simply nodded and linked her mind to Melody as she thought of a few songs. Melody simply nodded as Hibiki got ready and started to play the first tune in her mind. Melody then sang softly along with the music as the two simply let their music resound throughout the night. The two had nearly lost track of time when after one song, Hibiki let out a loud yawn.</p>
<p>"Man, this really did help my anxiety… and my need to sleep." HIbiki said as she rubbed her eye.</p>
<p>"<em>Agreed.</em>" Melody said as she began to float back to the tent. Hibiki followed suit and when the two entered, they both immediately lied down on their respective cots. "<em>See you in the morning.</em>" Melody told Hibiki. Hibiki simply nodded as Melody fell asleep, leaving her to stare at the ceiling of the tent.</p>
<p>"<em>This journey is already going very well… but why do I have this strange feeling that it won't last much longer than the next town?</em>" Hibiki thought as she drifted off to sleep.</p>
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